SOCIETY NEWS
CAPITOL HILL UPDATES FROM THE NATIONAL OFFICE
DC Forest Policy Update for the
Week of 11 June, 2001
This Week in Congress
SENATE FLOOR
Nothing forestry-related.
ON THE HOUSE FLOOR
House to Consider Salmon Bill
SENATE COMMITTEES
No hearings on forestry-related issues.
HOUSE COMMITTEES
Forestry to get Agriculture
Committee Hearing
House
Appropriations Committee to Look at Agriculture and Interior Spending
Subcommittee to Review Land and
Monument Bills
IN THE ADMINISTRATION
Chief Bosworth Urges
Consideration of Roadless Protection
Forest Service Delays Road Analysis
LAST WEEK IN CONGRESS
Interior Appropriations Bill
Increases Funding
House Subcommittee
Markup of Agriculture Appropriations Bill
House Subcommittee
Holds Hearing on Agriculture Conservation
FUTURE FILE
Department of Interior Nominations
ON THE SENATE FLOOR
At this time, there is no forestry-related legislation before the Senate.
ON THE HOUSE FLOOR
The House may consider HR 1157 a bill that would authorize $340 million in spending to protect salmon in the Pacific Northwest.
HR 1157 would authorize the Commerce Department to spend $200 million over three years for local salmon conservation projects in Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. The bill would also renew U.S. participation in the 1999 Pacific Salmon Treaty Agreement with Canada, authorizing an additional $140 million for two conservation funds established by the treaty.
IN SENATE COMMITTEES
At this time, there are no hearings on forestry-related issues scheduled in Senate committees.
IN HOUSE COMMITTEES
Forestry to get Agriculture Committee Hearing
SAF’s Vice-President Dr. David Wm. Smith, along with others interested in private forestry will testify before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry regarding forestry programs in the context of a comprehensive Farm Bill. The hearing will focus on how the current programs are operating, what changes need to be made to programs and their funding levels, and whether new programs are needed.
The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 12 at 10:00 a.m. in 1300 Longworth.
House Appropriations Committee to Look at Agriculture and Interior Spending
The House Appropriations Committee will markup the Agriculture appropriations bill for FY ’02 that would provide the department with $15.5 billion. This is a $110 million increase over President Bush’s request.
At the same hearing, the Committee will also consider the Interior appropriations bill for FY '02, which would provide $18.9 billion in spending. This figure is roughly equal to this year’s spending, minus emergency fire appropriations. Total spending exceeds President Bush’s request by about $800 million.
The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, June 13 at 10:00 a.m. in 2359 Rayburn.
Subcommittee to Review Land and Monument Bills
The House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands will hold a hearing to review three bills. The bills are:
HR 271 - to direct the Secretary of Interior to convey a former BLM administrative site to Carson City, Nevada for use as a senior center.
HR 980 - to establish the Moccasin Bend National Historic Site in Tennessee as a unit of the national park system.
HR 1668 - to authorize the Adams Memorial Foundation to establish a commemorative work on federal land in Washington, DC to honor former President John Adams and his family.
The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 12 at 10:00 a.m. in 1324 Longworth.
IN THE ADMINISTRATION
Chief Bosworth Urges Consideration of Roadless Protection
While the Bush Administration develops an amendment to the roadless rule, Forest Service chief Dale Bosworth is assuming authority over road-building and logging on designated roadless areas in the National Forests.
In a memo issued Thursday, June 7, Chief Bosworth instructed Forest Service officials to consider protection of roadless areas as they revise forest plans.
The memo describes Bosworth’s authority over timber harvests and road construction in roadless areas until existing roads are correctly mapped and possible revisions to the management plans are approved.
Chief Bosworth’s memo can be viewed on the Forest Service web site at http://roadless.fs.fed.us/documents/1230_Roadless_Ltr.htm.
SAF’s letter to Secretary Veneman regarding the roadless rule can be seen at http://www.safnet.org/policy/psst/road42701.htm.
Forest Service Delays Road Analysis
The Forest Service extended the deadline for forest managers to comply with road analysis procedures until January 12, 2002.
The Forest Service's transportation policy initiated a science-based analysis for road construction and reconstruction. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth announced the deadline extension on Thursday, June 7th. At the same time, he introduced an interim rule, which immediately went into effect.
The interim rule gives regional foresters the authority to grant exemptions for national forests to complete their forest-wide roads analyses, rather than the Chief making that decision. The delay is also meant to give forests more time to comply with the regulations.
The agency will accept public comments on the interim rule made when the Agency publishes a notice in the Federal Register later in June.
LAST WEEK IN CONGRESS
Interior Appropriations Bill Increases Funding
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior approved an $18.9 billion Interior and related agencies spending bill for FY '02, while providing $1.3 billion in conservation program funding. This marks an $800 million increase over President Bush's request and removes his proposals on Endangered Species Act listings and drilling in Alaska's arctic refuge.
The full committee is planning to take up the measure on Wednesday with floor action expected by the end of the month. The $18.9 billion bill is $88 million more than provided for the current fiscal year.
House Subcommittee Markup of Agriculture Appropriations Bill
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture held a markup Wednesday for FY '02 spending for the Agriculture Department. The draft spending bill would boost spending on agriculture programs $110 million over President Bush’s request, providing $15.5 billion in discretionary funding for USDA, compared with Bush's request of $15.4 billion.
Under the draft bill, which goes to the full committee this week, conservation operations under USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service would receive $782 million, an increase of $70.2 million over FY ’01 and an increase of $9.3 million over Bush's request.
Highlights of the Appropriations Bill can be seen at the Subcommittee’s web site at http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/2002/pr02intsub.htm.
You can view SAF’s official testimony on Interior Appropriations at http://www.safnet.org/policy/psst/interbudget401.htm.
House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Agriculture Conservation
The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation Credit, Rural Development and Research held a hearing Wednesday, June 6 to review the conservation programs of the Farm Bill.
Witnesses from state agriculture departments, fish and wildlife agencies, conservationists, and farmers testified before the Subcommittee, giving overall support for the Farm Bill. Most agreed that the different conservation programs should remain voluntary but should increase technical assistance from the Agriculture Department.
Jamie Adams, secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, speaking on behalf of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, began by recommending a new program aimed at conserving open space, the Agricultural Stewardship Program. Adams went on to suggest adding grazing to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and that the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) should include a critical habitat provision to give priority to endangered species critical habitat areas and encourage voluntary enhancements in those areas.
J. Read Smith, president of the National Association of Conservation Districts, called for an increase in the Conservation Reserve Program’s (CRP’s) acreage cap to 45 million acres, which the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies also supported. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) could also use some changes, according to Smith. He advocated an additional $1 billion annually to start.
However, Joe Hampton, President of the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association, speaking on behalf of the National Grain and Feed Association, disagreed with several of the witnesses, recommending for the CRP program that the acreage remain the same, focus existing funding on filter strips, and limit the amount of CRP lands in individual counties.
In addition to EQIP, CRP, and WHIP, the Wetlands Reserve Program also received attention. According to Smith, it suffers from a lack of funding. This is demonstrated by the more than 86,000 farmers who applied for assistance through these programs this year, and 72 percent were turned away.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on pending nominations in the Department of Interior. The nominations include:
The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, June 20 in 366 Dirksen (Time TBA).
If you read about a bill that you're interested in receiving more information about you can either contact SAF's policy department or visit http://thomas.loc.gov/. The Thomas website is a service of the Library of Congress that allows you to search for bills, the Congressional record, and other government information.
Please direct questions, comments, and suggestions
to Bill Cook, cookwi@msu.edu or 906-786-1575.
Editorial issues can be addressed to Eric Thompson.