[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