In 2003, Congress passed landmark legislation instructing federal land management agencies to restore the health of the nation’s forestlands, to reduce the unnatural level of forest fuels, address insect and disease outbreaks and to implement forest protection plans around “at risk communities”.
WHEREAS, several years of catastrophic wildfire throughout the forests of the west have documented the serious forest health and fuel load problems plaguing federalforestlands, and
WHEREAS, recognizing that legislative authorities were necessary to accomplish this backlog of forest land needing treatment, Congress passed the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) with overwhelming bipartisan support, effectively giving the Congressional stamp of approval for the President’s Healthy Forest Initiative (HFI), and
WHEREAS, 190 million acres of forest land nationwide are at high risk of fire or attacks by insects and disease and in forest condition class 2 and 3. And whereas, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are mandated to treat a minimum of 20 million acres during the first 10 years under the HFRA. The success of this legislation will depend on the ability and desire of federal land management agencies to implement the law and use the authorities it has provided to actively manageforestlands in need of restoration efforts.
WHEREAS, the nation’s land management agencies and their employees now have the responsibility and the authority to effectively implement the directives given to them by both the executive and legislative branches of the United States government.
NOW, THEREFORE LET IT BE RESOLVED, that the Oregon Logging Conference and its members call on the line officers of the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, along with all of their respective employees, to utilize to the fullest extent possible the authorities and expedited procedures provided by the President and Congress to prepare and implement forest health restoration projects and to salvage burned timber consistent with the intent of the HFI and HFRA.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that aggressive and successful implementation of the HFI and HFRA be considered a significant factor in the evaluation of agency and agency personnel performance.