Fri., Sept. 22, 2017

Idaho ramps up ‘Good Neighbor Authority’ to boost logging in federal forests

Federal and state forestry officials and a contractor confer at the site of the Woodrat salvage timber sale, a “Good Neighbor Authority” project in the Nez Perce National Forest. From left are Arnold Pineda, of Pineda Brothers Logging; Idaho State Forester David Groeschl; state Lands Department worker Jarel Bruce; Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest Supervisor Cheryl Probert; and Idaho Department of Lands Forestry and Fire Division Administrator Craig Foss. (Idaho Department of Lands)

Idaho program could become model for other states

By Keith Ridler

Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service and Idaho have forged 10 agreements for logging and restoration projects on federal land in what officials say could become a template for other Western states to create jobs and reduce the severity of wildfires.

Under the deals, Idaho foresters will administer timber sales on about 10,000 acres the federal agency has on its to-do list but can't complete because the money for the work is instead going to fight wildfires.

So far this year, the cost of that fight has surpassed $2 billion — more than half the federal agency's annual budget — during one of the worst fire seasons on record in the West.

The state work involves managing timber sales to a lumber company after determining how much is available and sometimes even marking what can and can't be cut.

Money generated from the sales goes into accounts in the national forest where the timber was harvested, less expenses incurred by the Idaho Department of Lands for administering the sales.

The federal money is held in accounts to be used for additional work, which can include thinning projects to reduce wildfire threats and projects to improve habitat for fish and wildlife.

The federal-state partnership is possible under the Good Neighbor Authority passed by Congress more than a decade ago that initially involved Colorado and Utah. The 2014 Farm Bill expanded the measure to include other states.

Michigan, Wyoming, Oregon, Nevada and in particular Wisconsin have moved ahead with the partnership. But officials say Idaho - where 38 percent of the land is managed by the U.S. Forest Service - has made rapid progress.

“Idaho has really stepped up to fully embrace that ability for us to work with our state partners to get more work done,” said Intermountain Region Forester Nora Rasure, whose area includes 53,000 square miles of forest lands in Utah, Nevada and portions of Wyoming, Idaho and California.

Government, industry and environmentalists have developed a collaborative approach in Idaho following years of stalemated litigation over forests that were sometimes consumed by flames as decisions were delayed.

“They’re building agreements on being able to manage the forest in such a way that you can get timber off of them but you don't compromise environmental values,” said John Freemuth, a Boise State University environmental policy professor and public lands expert. “It's not a panacea, but it's better than forest wars. That exhausted a lot of people.”

Watchdog groups say they're concerned the policy might have more to do with avoiding environmental regulations than enhancing forest health. But for now, they are cautiously supportive.

The Idaho Department of Lands manages 2.4 million acres of state endowment land it received at statehood to primarily benefit public schools. About a million of those acres are forested.

Tom Schultz, director of the Idaho Department of Lands, said the work with the Forest Service helps Idaho by reducing the threat of giant wildfires spilling onto state and private forest land, and removing stands weakened by insects or disease to help prevent the spread of those problems to state and private lands.

Another major benefit is jobs. Shultz said an analysis suggests 12 to 15 direct and indirect jobs will be created for every million board feet of lumber harvested.

Watchdog groups wonder how well Idaho can mesh its forestry program, which is geared to maximize revenue over the long term, with the Forest Service's multiple-use mandate that includes timber sales, recreation and wildlife habitat.

“We’d like to see them recognize that you can still have a profitable timber sale while protecting some of those sensitive resources,” said Jonathan Oppenheimer of the Idaho Conservation League.

The Idaho Department of Lands has received a three-year grant for $900,000 from the Forest Service for the program and Idaho lawmakers have authorized $250,000 from the state general fund. State officials say the goal is to have the program paying for itself with profitable timber sales in three to five years.

“We want to significantly increase the number of acres being treated,” said Idaho State Forester David Groeschl.

Here's my full story from spokesman.com:

By Betsy Z. Russell

Idaho’s state lands department says it has a new mission: Increasing active management – and logging – on federal forests in the state.

Far from the simmering and often bitter debate over whether states should take over federal lands, Idaho’s moved toward its new approach through a collaboration with federal forest managers and the communities where the forests are located.

“This really is cooperation at its best,” said Tom Schultz, director of the Idaho Department of Lands.

Gov. Butch Otter has long been a champion of the approach, which taps the “Good Neighbor Authority” that Congress extended to all states in the 2014 federal Farm Bill. Because Idaho already had numerous forest collaboratives in place - which bring together sportsmen, conservationists, industry, local government and more to help design projects to improve forests in their area - it was able to spring into action.

“I can’t tell you how exciting it is, not only to be able to participate in the natural resource base that we’ve got for our economy, but also for our health, our forest health and our safety,” Otter said last week.

Projects on tap range from salvaging burned timber and replanting; to thinning fire-prone forests around rural Idaho communities.

In the department’s budget request for next year, it’s asking for eight new positions to allow it to create a new GNA bureau within its Forestry and Fire Division dedicated to the federal-lands work. That would up the staffing for GNA programs at the department from current 4.3 positions to 12.3; program revenues, rather than state general tax funds, would underwrite the new positions.

GNA agreements are currently in place for four national forests in Idaho: The Idaho Panhandle National Forests; the Nez Perce-Clearwater; the Boise; and the Payette. Ten projects are scheduled over the first three to five years, and would produce about 65 million board feet of timber and $13 million in program income. Idaho is about 18 months into the program now.

State Forester David Groeschl said if the program succeeds at helping the forests move toward full implementation of their forest plans, they could produce an additional 100 million board feet of timber a year. A University of Idaho study estimated that would mean $68.5 million in additional wages in Idaho; 1,300 direct forest industry jobs; 300 indirect jobs; and $118 million in state gross domestic product. “That’s a significant economic boost,” he said, “especially to our local rural economies where this activity would be taking place.”

Groeschl said the biggest difference between Idaho’s approach to GNA and those of other states thus far has been the inclusion of actual timber sales, beyond just restoration work. That’s the piece that brings in both the prospect of jobs and other economic impacts, plus the opportunity for the program to become self-supporting and expand.

“Working with each other to kind of pull and push each other forward, I think we’ve come up with some creative ways for doing the work,” said Nora Rasure, regional forester for the Intermountain Region of the U.S. Forest Service.

Jane Darnell, deputy regional forester for the Forest Service’s Northern Region, which includes the Panhandle, said, “We clearly are far more successful getting our projects implemented and through the decision process when we’re working together in this fashion.”

The program’s first two projects, both in the Nez Perce National Forest, were the Wapiti project, a timber sale that’s now been 35 percent harvested and removed nearly 1 million board-feet of timber; and the Woodrat project, a salvage sale to recover burned timber from the 2015 Clearwater Complex fires and replant the area. That project covers 348 acres and will remove 7.6 million board-feet of timber.

Of the other projects currently in the works, two are in North Idaho’s Panhandle National Forests, in Boundary and Bonner counties. They are:

The Hanna Flats project, which currently is in the planning phase. It includes forest vegetation management and hazardous fuel reduction on 2,000 acres, including timber harvest, prescribed burning, and thinning.

The Jasper Mountain project, aimed at increasing resilience to insect and disease infestations, will see a timber sale contract awarded in the next six months; it’s expected to produce more than 13 million board-feet of logs and generate $3 million in income for the program.

Posted Sept. 22, 2017, 12:59 p.m.

Eye On Boise

Idaho ramps up ‘Good Neighbor Authority’ to boost logging in federal forests

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