Federal funds for beetle kill in the forest.
Billings Gazette 1-18-10 news article
HELENA — Montana forests managers will get a $20 million boost from the federal government to address the mountain pine beetle epidemic and general forest health.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is allocating $20 million to Montana for forest management and conservation programs.
It’s part of the same program under which last month the USDA said it was earmarking $40 million for Forest Service Region 2, where beetles have killed more than 2 million acres of pine trees in Colorado and Wyoming. Last week, the federal agency said it would spend an additional $14 million on damaged Idaho forests where the bark beetles are also boring into trees and killing them.
On Friday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said forest lands play a critical role in providing clean water and a healthier climate for all Americans, and the USDA is committed to protecting and preserving the important resource from pests like the bark beetle.
“These funds will help manage our forests and improve their health for future generations, and I look forward to continuing to work with the Montana delegation to address these important forest and watershed health issues together,” Vilsack said.
Montana’s senators were thrilled with the announcement. Democrats Jon Tester and Max Baucus have been working closely with the USDA to gain access to additional funding for the U.S. Forest Service lands in Montana.
“The pine beetle infestation in the Northern Rockies is a threat to our way of life, and we must do all we can to address climate change, and we must act to reduce its effects in order to ensure a brighter future for our children and grandchildren,” Baucus said.
Tester added that Montana needs a new way of managing federal forests, which is why he introduced the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. Part of the bill mandates logging on at least 100,000 acres, which Tester said he hopes would be done in areas where houses are built close to the forest and in places the pine beetles have hit hard.
“In the meantime, this additional funding will help the Forest Service reduce wildfire risk, safeguard watersheds and improve forest health,” Tester said.
On Friday, Tester invited Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg to “compare notes” on the bill, introduced last summer. Both Tester and Rehberg have held public listening sessions on the legislation, and Tester said he plans to make several “improvements” based on the input he’s received.
“I appreciate you holding listening sessions across Montana over the past few days,” Tester said in a written invitation to Rehberg. “Now that we each have feedback on the bill, I think it would serve Montanans well for us to discuss the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.”
Rehberg also has indicated that while the comments he heard on Tester’s bill varied, there was consensus: That something must be done to promote good forest stewardship.
The $20 million comes from the USDA budget, which already has been approved by Congress. Disbursement of the funds for Montana will be done by Leslie Weldon, the new regional forester for Region 1. She wasn’t able to be reached for comment on Friday.
A recent federal estimate noted that about 5 million acres of Montana forests have been affected by the infestation, up from about 2 million acres last year.
The additional funds will be especially welcome on the Helena and Beaverhead-Deerlodge national forests, which are among the most affected by beetles in Montana. More than half of the 983,000-acre Helena forest is infested, and one-third of the trees on the 3.4 million acre Beaverhead-Deerlodge forest have been attacked by the beetles.
“The last reconnaissance flight in the summer of 2009 showed about 585,000 acres were hit. That’s about 60 percent of the Helena forest,” said Kathy Bushnell, the Helena forest’s public information officer. “That includes 96,044 acres in the Townsend Ranger District; 296,474 acres on the Helena Ranger District; and 193,039 acres on the Lincoln Ranger District.”
Mountain pine beetles are an integral part of healthy forests, but the recent drought has stressed trees and made them more susceptible to infestations. That’s allowed the pine beetle population to explode across the West, including in British Columbia.
The beetles kill trees by boring into them — mainly lodgepole pines — and “girdling” the trees by eating horizontal rows under the bark. The rice-size bugs also carry a fungus on their backs, which causes additional harm to the trees.
The epidemic has resulted in a dramatic increase in the danger of trees falling on roads, trails and recreation areas. In addition, the dead and dying trees greatly increase the risk of fire danger initially, although the danger seems to drop once the trees lose their needles.
written by Eve Byron of the Independant Record : 447-4076 or eve.byron@helenair.com
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why are tax payers paying this 20 mill for this beetle fund. if the enviros wouldnt stop the usfs from logging and promoting a healthy forest this would be a far less threat but no the enviros have to stop logging, recreation and any other type of use they dont find fit for the forest. so why are we not asking the enviros for the money. since this epidemic is due to lack of forest management.
and as goes for tester how is a 10 year logging plan going to promote a health forest for life. once it is turned into wilderness you don’t manage it any more unless the only thing you are after is the new jon tester wilderness but i dont think it has that good of a ring to it maybe “i have no spine wilderness” or “i stab montanans in the back wilderness” or how about “crafted behind closed doors wilderness” either way every montanan will know it was named after you.