Bill Imbergamo, Executive DirectorArkansas Forestry Association

October 2015

Who are we?• Over 650 sawmills, pulp and paper mills,

engineered wood facilities, biomass power plants, hundreds of logging contractors in 42 States

• Over 390,000 workers• Over $19 billion in payroll• The last best chance for forest management

on our public lands

Who are we?

What is at stake?National Forests Can Help Build and Sustain

High Value Timber Markets

What is at stake?

What is at stake?State: Acres: ASQ: Most Recent:Alabama: 667,000 43 MBF 38.6 MBFArkansas: 3,000,000 208 MBF 110.2 MBFFlorida: 1,200,000 52 MBF 32.2 MBFGeorgia: 749,000 60 MBF 16.4 MBFKentucky: 708,000 11 MBF 7.8 MBFLouisiana: 604,000 48 MBF 60 MBFMississippi: 1,200,000 254 MBF 58.4 MBFNorth Carolina: 1,250,000 43 MBF 16.3 MBFSouth Carolina: 629,000 67 MBF 52.3 MBFTennessee: 655,000 22 MBF 8.5 MBFTexas: 675,000 113 MBF 36.6 MBFVirginia: 1,664,000 54 MBF 17.5 MBFTotal: 13,000,000 975 MBF 454.8 MBF

What is at stake?• Southeastern National Forests are cutting

46.6% of total allowable cut.• NFS timber is sold in competitively bid timber

sales – but sales are not ramped up or down based on market conditions.

• Providing supply – even in down markets – helps stabilize timber demand.

What is at stake?In Arkansas:•Roughly 10 percent of total forest area•Roughly 12 percent of commercial timberland•3 million acres of high-visibility forest management.

What is at stake?In Arkansas:NFS Units have sold an average of 62% of their 208 Million Board Feet (MBF) Allowable Sale Quantity (ASQ) over the last 5 years.FiscalYear MBF Sold: % of ASQ:2014 134.109 64%2013 110.229 53%2012 131.378 63%2011 142.373 68%2010 135.636 65%

How did we get here?

Current Management Process:(warning: approximate)

Forest Plan

Forest Management Project

Watershed Condition

Terrestrial Condition

Project Level NEPA

Fire Condition Class

CWPP

CFLRA

Road Density

Plant Surveys

Archaeology

Wildlife

Project Level NEPA

T&E Species

Culturally Significant Plants

NPDES Permit?

How did we get here?Current laws (NFMA, NEPA, ESA):• Do not harmonize• Multi-level planning process creates

redundancy, opportunities for judicial second-guessing

• Put judges, not resource professionals, in charge of decision-making

How did we get here?Courts have usually presumed that to “protect”

non-timber values, we must:• Cut fewer trees• Cut on fewer acres• Make it harder to pick the acres to harvest

How did we get here?Clinton Administration presided over a nearly

80 percent decline in NFS timber harvest.• Set aside 60 Million Acres as “roadless”• Proposed moving money out of timber

accounts.• Acres at risk to fire increased from 24 million

in 1999 to 82 million today.

How did we get here?

How did we get here?

How did we get here?

What did we get?

What did we get?

What did we get?

What did we get?

What is to be done?

What is to be done?

What is to be done?

Fire Funding: Symptom, Not Cause

A Two Pronged Approach:HR 2647: The Resilient Federal Forests ActSponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman (Hot Springs!)•Streamlines required analysis•Reduces litigation•Provides new funding sources•Solves “fire borrowing” in a fiscally responsible way.

The Resilient Federal Forest Act: On to the Senate!

• HR 2647 passed the House in July.• Sent to Senate Agriculture Committee• Hearing – November?

The Resilient Federal Forest Act: On to the Senate!

Ask Sen. Boozman and Sen. Cotton to support HR 2647 – fire funding and forest management

Even enacting some of the key provisions in Westerman will help get more management on the ground:•Streamlined analysis for collaborative projects•NEPA Exemption for early successional habitat projects

The Senate can’t help the Forest Service by simply providing a new fire funding mechanism.

The Resilient Federal Forest Act: On to the Senate!How Can You Help?

“Like” FFRC on facebook!www.facebook.com/FederalForestResourceCoalition

“Like” HFHC on facebook!www.facebook.com/healthyforestshealthycommunities/

Say THANK YOU to Congressman Bruce Westerman!