[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 206 (Monday, December 7, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7231-S7232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                 Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests

  Mr. CRAPO. Madam President, I rise today to highlight some meaningful 
progress underway on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests to 
improve the health of these forests. These collaborative efforts are 
showing progress, and they are an example of where we can go 
nationally.
  Collaboration brings results. I have been a longtime champion of 
collaboration to address public lands management disputes, as 
collaborative processes are good for the environment and good for 
natural-resource based economies. Collaborative problem-solving is a 
key way to ensure that all voices are heard and long-term solutions are 
crafted.
  Working together through collaboration does not require a sacrifice 
of principles, but it does require earnest negotiations with respect 
for ideas from all perspectives and a willingness to work to understand 
each other's objectives. Inevitably, at several points along the 
collaborative path, there are strong disagreements. However, 
participants' refusal to quit is a key attribute of successful 
collaborative efforts.
  One of the greatest benefits of collaboration is that it enables the 
achievement of solutions that are better than the status quo for all 
stakeholders. Such solutions are better for the environment and the 
economy. Through collaboration, participants can actually achieve their 
objectives and in ways that benefit the entire community.
  The work on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests is a great 
example of the benefits of collaborative efforts. The Clearwater Basin 
Collaborative, or CBC, as we call it, which was officially launched 12 
years ago, has had an important role in furthering discussions about 
the management of the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests. Nez Perce 
Tribal representatives, representatives of Federal and State agencies, 
county commissioners, local communities, timber companies, conservation 
groups, and other stakeholders make up the CBC's Working Group, which 
accommodates a diverse array of viewpoints and objectives.
  I met with members of the predecessor group, called the Konkolville 
Collaborative, and welcomed the opportunity to be a part of the CBC's 
official launch in 2008. I track the group's progress through 
dedicating a member of my staff to being part of its discussions 
focused on resolving longstanding concerns and achieving land 
management decisions and fostering communication among different 
interest groups. The remarkable landscape it works to enhance 
encompasses forestlands providing habitat for treasured wildlife and 
anadromous fish species; resources for local communities, including 
timber, livestock grazing, and mining; and natural carbon sinks that 
help our planet.
  The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests span 4 million acres. Three 
rivers flow through the forests, providing important water sources, 
outstanding fishing, and other recreational opportunities. It is truly 
a remarkable place, and the group's work is far from easy, as there is 
a lot at stake.
  The good news is that we are hearing reports of remarkable 
achievements being made on the Forests. The Nez Perce-Clearwater 
National Forests have received three significant recognitions this year 
alone that highlight cooperative restoration work: a Regional 
Forester's Award for fostering partnership and volunteerism; a Chief's 
Award for delivering benefits to the public; and an Undersecretary's 
Award for customer service for the forests' Historic Routes Project.
  Through the Historic Routes Project, the Nez Perce-Clearwater 
National Forests dedicated approximately $1 million of retained 
receipts from stewardship contracts to improve water quality through 
historically sensitive maintenance along three historic roadways: the 
Lolo Motorway, the Elk City Wagon Road, and the Magruder Road, which 
attract visitors from all over the country. Project leaders, 
recognizing the importance of these routes to the local economy and 
historical significance, have partnered with local groups and the 
University of Idaho to include digital interpretation that is 
accessible even in locations without internet service. The project has 
also been supported through the Secure Rural Schools Resources Advisory 
Committee to assist with the maintenance.
  Stewardship contracts have also been used on the Nez Perce-Clearwater 
National Forests to enable the Forest Service to accomplish vegetation 
and watershed restoration. By leveraging this program with other 
partnerships and funding sources, the forests are able to have a truly 
integrated restoration program. Stewardship contracts have enabled 
fuels and weed treatment, watershed protection and restoration, road 
maintenance, and enhancements such as the removal of wire fencing to 
help wildlife
  A total of 536 miles of streams have been restored on the Nez Perce-
Clearwater National Forests, resulting in the forests being ranked 
fourth nationwide in miles of streams restored. The forests have a 
strong partnership with the Nez Perce Tribe, which contributes greatly 
to its watershed accomplishments. At the same time, priorities of much 
needed restoration of landscapes, including water quality improvements, 
are also providing a supply of raw materials to our local mills. In 
fact, the forests are the fifth in the Nation in providing wood 
products for purchase.
  More work is underway to address significant challenges, but this is 
the direction we need to continue to go in delivering long-term 
results. I commend all those involved in this effort for their hard and 
exemplary work improving our treasured landscapes.
  Also, a Good Neighbor Authority program coordinated by the Nez Perce-
Clearwater National Forests and the Idaho Department of Lands was 
recognized with the 2017 Regional Forester Awards. Through the program, 
forest management has supported fuels reduction and watershed 
restoration. Further, the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests 
recently signed a Good Neighbor Authority agreement with the Idaho 
Department of Fish and Game. This will enable the forests and the Idaho 
Department of Fish and Game to work more seamlessly as they collaborate 
on projects to enhance wildlife habitat such as aspen restoration.
  Statewide, the Idaho Department of Lands reports that the agency is 
utilizing Good Neighbor Authority to partner with national forests in 
Idaho to expedite projects focused on fuels reduction, forest health 
improvements, and watershed health. According to an ILD summary from 
January of this year, the program has enabled the treatment of 4,800 
acres through 50

[[Page S7232]]

service contracts, at a total value of over $3 million to the private 
sector, to treat weed infestation, reduce fuels, complete road repairs, 
and support project planning and monitoring. Other collaborative 
efforts have laid strong groundwork or follow in the footsteps of 
collaborative work such as this.
  In Idaho we have succeeded with public lands projects such as the 
Owyhee Initiative and are at hard at work in others, such as the 
Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative, the Payette Forest Coalition, the 
Boise Forest Coalition, and others, including our Governor's Shared 
Stewardship Task Force. I also look forward to the soon-to-be completed 
recommendations of the Governor's Salmon Workgroup.
  Federal policy must empower collaboration and forest health. As 
Senators and shared stewards of these natural resources, we must 
continuously work to ensure Federal statute and policy empower 
collaborative efforts and forest health projects. In 2003, I was proud 
to work with my congressional colleagues, including Senator Ron Wyden 
of Oregon and many others, to enact the Healthy Forests Restoration 
Act, or HFRA, to help provide the U.S. Forest Service with the tools 
needed to do the necessary work on the ground to restore our forests 
and help reduce the threat of a catastrophic wildfire to our 
communities and ecosystems. The HFRA was designed to encourage fuel 
reduction efforts, protect old-growth forests, enhance water quality, 
promote community-based land management and public involvement in 
forest management, and address insect and disease problems. The HFRA 
has promoted stewardship contracting projects which incorporate public-
private partnerships, emphasizing more localized forest management.
  In the years since the enactment of the HFRA, Congress has enacted 
additional legislation to advance forest health. For example, in the 
2014 farm bill we included permanent authority for stewardship 
contracting and the authorization of Good Neighbor Authority. Good 
Neighbor Authority expanded the Federal Government's ability to partner 
with State foresters on restoration projects, including bark beetle 
treatments across State and Federal boundaries. Subsequently, the 2018 
farm bill included an expansion of Good Neighbor Authority, credited 
with increasing the pace and scale of forest restoration projects 
across Idaho. The 2018 farm bill also, importantly, included a 10-year 
reauthorization of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration 
Program, which has enabled the expansion of active collaborative land-
use groups in Idaho. The program encourages large-scale--that is 
50,000-plus acres--collaborative, science-based forest restoration 
projects in a way that encourages environmental and economic 
sustainability.
  The U.S. Forest Service reported that in the first 10 years of the 
program, the CFLRP opportunities brought together more than 420 
organizations to engage in local collaboratives, and CFLRP projects 
treated 3.8 million acres to reduce wildfire risk.
  The CFLRP has supported collaborative work of the Clearwater Basin 
Collaborative and the Nez Perce-Clearwater Forests to restore 
conditions within the 1.4 million-acre Selway-Middle Fork ecosystem 
through stream improvements, the replacement of culverts preventing 
fish passage, road and trail maintenance, and the reduction of wildfire 
fuel loads.
  Also, the reauthorized Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration 
Program has two newly approved projects in Idaho, with one in each 
region. Region 1 encompasses the Panhandle National Forest, and in 
Region 4, it encompasses the Payette and Boise National Forests.
  We cannot let up in making progress on wildfires. The severely smoke-
clogged skies this fire season made the impacts of the fires that have 
decimated wildlands and communities for years nearly unescapable.
  As we think about the lives and livelihoods lost to wildfires, we 
must continue to work to enact bipartisan forest management reform to 
build on the progress made in recent years to ensure Federal land 
agencies have the tools they need to protect communities from deadly 
wildfires by improving the health of our forests.
  Bipartisan legislation pending in this Senate would increase the 
active management of Federal forests, cut redtape, reduce frivolous 
litigation, and advance fire risk reduction. Senators Steve Daines, of 
Montana, and Dianne Feinstein, of California, worked across party lines 
for months to negotiate the details of the bipartisan Emergency 
Wildfire and Public Safety Act.
  Enactment of sensible, bipartisan legislation such as this, which is 
also cosponsored by myself and my fellow colleague from Idaho, Senator 
Jim Risch, can better enable land managers to reduce wildfire risk and 
respond effectively to an increasingly virulent wildfire reality. This 
will build on the successful enactment of bipartisan legislation to 
enable Federal agencies to respond to wildfires as they would to other 
natural disasters and end the practice of fire borrowing.
  Forests make up 39 percent of the land in my home State of Idaho. 
They are key to air and water quality and sustain wildlife habitat and 
recreational opportunities. They support communities through wood and 
paper product jobs and recreation dollars. They are the backdrop and 
the means for an unparalleled quality of life. Their vitality hinges on 
their effective management.
  I am encouraged by the achievements on the Nez Perce-Clearwater 
National Forests, and I urge continued collaborative efforts to address 
often contentious but necessary natural resource challenges and the 
enactment of Federal law that bolsters these collaborative efforts for 
the betterment of all our communities.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee