U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., wants to remove more damaged timber from national forests after wildfires.
Johnson is addressing the issue with new legislation called the Forestry Improvements to Restore the Environment Act, or FIRE Act.
The bill would require the Forest Service to make damaged trees available for salvage logging operations within 60 days after a fire. It would also relax environmental reviews for logging hazardous trees within 200 feet of a road. And it would make environmental lawsuits less likely to stop either activity.
“This is something that is, I think, going to be very important to the Black Hills, as well as all national forests,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday. “This streamlines the ability of the timber industry and the Forest Service to get dead timber out of the forest.”
Johnson said the bill is also good for the environment, because it would lock up carbon dioxide in wood products rather than letting it escape to become one of the greenhouse gases causing climate change.
“We’re talking a lot about carbon in Congress these days, and we know that if you can get that timber out of there and turn it into desks, chairs and other timber uses, it can hold that carbon for decades or hundreds of years,” Johnson said.
Johnson acknowledged the bill lacks Democratic support.
Scientists say there are reasons to leave some dead vegetation in the forest. The organic material feeds the soil as it breaks down, while some birds and animals make their homes in dead trees.
The FIRE Act is one of several attempts Johnson is making to bolster the timber industry as officials in the Black Hills National Forest struggle to determine appropriate current and future logging levels.
Forest Service researchers say wildfires and mountain pine beetles have drastically reduced the number of trees big enough for logging in the forest. The Forest Service has sold less timber in the forest each of the past two years and at least one sawmill – the Neiman Enterprises facility in Hill City – is scheduled to close.
-Contact reporter Seth Tupper by email.