GEOS INSTITUTE for GEOS INSTITUTE (FORMERLY NATIONAL CENTER FOR CONSERVATION SCIENCE)

Natural Resources NAT

S. _________ (Wyden) To restore forest landscapes, protect old growth forests, and manage national forests in the eastside forests of the State of Oregon, and for other purposes. Lobbied for passage of this bill. Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 (S. 10): Opposed to section 8203 which dramatically increases the areas of our National Forest System that can be treated with hazardous fuel reduction projects using HFRAs minimal and expedited environmental review, public participation, administrative appeal process, and judicial review provisions. The provision also fails to require compliance with HFRAs critically important safeguards that protect ecologically sensitive areas, such as old growth stands and designated wilderness. This provision authorizes and incentivizes projects in remote backcountry areas of our national forests, thereby diverting increasingly scarce resources away from forest-adjacent communities (otherwise known as the wildland-urban interface area or WUI) and potentially increasing fire risk for such communities. Opposed these three bills which strive to reinstate the discredited system of logging to generate revenue for counties. This mechanism was eliminated over a decade ago with the creation of the Secure Rural Schools program. H.R. 1294, (Labrador), H.R.____ (Hastings) and H.R.____ (DeFazio), would effectively privatize our federal forest lands by creating legally binding fiduciary trusts for the sole purpose of providing revenues to counties. The result would be industrialized clearcuts across the landscape as this would be the most efficient way to meet the mandated intensive logging targets (at least 50% of the Federal Forest Reserves (Hastings) or obligations to maximize revenues. Industrialization of public lands will damage watersheds and pollute drinking water, putting our western water supply at risk, as over 50% of fresh water supplies in the West come from federal forests. Intensive logging and other extractive practices dumps sediment into rivers, that can increase costs for local water utilities, cause erosion and can alter the timing of water availability. (H.R. ___, DeFazio) would sidestep or limit the application of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) or the Clean Water Act. H.R. 1294, Self-Sufficient Community Lands Act of 2013 (Labrador) H.R. ____, Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act (Hastings) H.R. ____, O&C Trust, Conservation, and Jobs Act (DeFazio, Walden, Schrader) Opposed the following two bills which provide vast new authorities that eviscerate longstanding common sense protections. These bills would open up bigger areas of our national forests and public lands to be logged and developed for virtually any purpose-in many cases regardless of whether such projects effectively address fire, insects, or other threats. H.R. 818, (Tipton), allows clearcutting without proper environmental analysis. - H.R. 818, Healthy Forest Management and Wildfire Prevention Act (Tipton) - H.R. 1345, Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act of 2013 (Gosar) Northwest Forest Plan: Advocated to maintain protections under the Northwest Forest Plan. Northern Spotted Owl: Engaged in critical habitat determination for the northern spotted owl. Marbled Murrelet: Advocated for protection of marbled murrelet habitat. Advocated for using watershed restoration and avoided costs methodology to protect clean water mandates for federal lands.

Contacted: Interior, Dept of (DOI); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; SENATE; Congressional Budget Office (CBO); Office of Management & Budget (OMB); U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS); U.S. Forest Service; Bureau of Land Management (BLM); Agriculture, Dept of (USDA); Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)

Bills named: S. 10 (113th), H.R. 1294 (113th), H.R. 1345 (113th), H.R. 818 (113th)