Senator Thad Cochran, Mississippi

Issue: The Healthy Forest Initiative

By K.D. Leperi

Winter 2003-04

Women in Natural Resources:  The California wildfires of 2003 burned acreage about the size of Rhode Island and brought the issues surrounding fire risk into the public arena once again.  What can be done to prevent disasters of this proportion in the future?

Senator Cochran:  Congress has substantially increased funding for projects to reduce the buildup of brush and small trees on federal lands.  However, forest managers tell us that almost one million acres of forest projects they recommended were delayed with various appeals during a recent two-year period. 

The standard appeal time of 90 days may not seem like much, but unnecessary delay can often put projects behind at least a year.  In talking with those who manage these forests, they tell us that losing those 90 days prevents their ability to work in an area until the next year because of colder temperatures at higher elevations, or sensitive nesting times that would disturb endangered animals. 

I believe that those knowledgeable in the science of forestry can recommend the best course of action for federal forest lands:  which lands need to be left alone, thinned of overgrown brush, or treated for tree-killing insects.  It seems to me that to prevent disasters in the future, we need to be guided by well-reasoned plans, based on public consensus and scientific judgment.  In the Senate’s version of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, we worked to assure that forest communities receive the maximum benefit from this judgment.  The public has opportunities to appeal, and the Forest Service is encouraged to focus on the most promising means of treatment.  

WiNR:  Our nation’s forests and public lands are at risk from threats such as catastrophic fires, insect infestation, and long periods of drought that have left fuel loads that are dense and flammable.  The House of Representatives passed H.R. 1904, the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, based on legislation proposed by the Administration.  The bill provides critical new tools called for under the Healthy Forests Initiative to more effectively reduce wildfire risks and improve forest health.  Is there a scientific basis for these tools?

Senator Cochran:  Forestry and fire science experts describe a substantial increase in much hotter, often uncontrollable wildfire with the destructive power to consume large trees and damage sensitive watersheds.  In testimony before our Committee, these experts described how fire will roar from treetop to treetop, fueled from the unhealthy buildup of smaller and diseased trees.  Fire fighters will tell you from their experience that when brush is thinned, fires burn lower to the ground and are more easily controlled.  And they told us that in those lower, slower fires, the large trees survive.  The legislative measures proposed by the Senate would provide the tools forest managers can use, along with their scientific knowledge, to protect our forests.

WiNR:  There is an encroaching urban/wildland interface in our nation’s forests which is increasing the vulnerability of these homes to fire.  Is there a way to manage this vulnerability?

Senator Cochran:  You bring up a key point when you mention “managing vulnerability,” since vulnerability not only includes defense for homes, but for the watersheds that provide water supplies for nearby towns and distant cities.  Also, neglect on federal lands has a negative impact on adjacent private lands.  The Senate noted the concern from those living near these forest communities and insisted that no less than half of the federal funding be used to help thin overgrown brush in that urban/wildland interface where lives and property require a natural fire break for protection.  The Senate measure also recognized the wisdom and strategic importance of thinning smaller and diseased trees deep in the forest where the large wildfires build their dangerous momentum.

WiNR:  The Izaak Walton League contends that America’s National Forests have tree densities 10 to 20 times natural levels, thus creating the potential for catastrophic fires supported by heavy fuel loads.  The American Forests organization advocates the thinning of hazardous fuels in the urban/wildland interface and the removal of small-diameter trees as methods to reduce the risk of wildfire.  Are these methods consistent with the Healthy Forests Initiative?

Senator Cochran:  Yes, the President’s initiative, the House legislation, and the Senate’s bill all recognize the value of keeping the larger trees alive, in place, and healthy by focusing on thinning the smaller-diameter trees.  These policies were proposed with the advice of foresters, local communities, and experts in fire science and environmental law.  Our forests need to be restored to provide room for healthy, resilient trees that will be resistant to destructive wildfires and to insect and disease attacks.  The Senate’s approach made particular distinction in the preservation of larger trees and the thinning of smaller-diameter trees, brush, and vegetation. 

WiNR:   Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club contend that logging actually increases fire risk and that the Healthy Forests Initiative creates powerful new incentives to log large fire-resistant trees, old growth, and other commercially valuable forests.  Can you comment on this?

Senator Cochran:  The Healthy Forests Restoration Act focuses on the treatment of forests at risk.  Foresters have found that large, healthy trees and old growth forests are not easily burned—unless they are engulfed from flames fed by dense brush and smaller trees.  Those smaller trees and fire-promoting brush are the focus of reduction in the Healthy Forests Restoration Act.   Most notably, our legislation protects old growth trees by statute, rather than leaving it to ever-changing case law that varies protection from one jurisdiction to another.  Under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, old trees in the stand are protected, while smaller-diameter trees and brush are removed before they can stoke wildfires with dry deadwood.   The Senate authorized $760 million annually as support funding for the Forest Service to deal with the smaller trees and brush.      

WiNR:  These same environmental groups also contend that the categorical exclusion of “hazardous fuels reduction projects” essentially limits public participation.  Do you agree?

Senator Cochran:  To the contrary, the public will retain its right to participate early and constructively in the process.  The Senate’s version creates a new “pre-decisional review” that also allows the public to voice additional concerns just after completion of the official environmental reports, as well as prior to the project’s approval.  Forest Service officials will then put forward their best decision.  After the decision, those same members of the public still have their right to go to federal court to stop a project, or have it altered. 

WiNR:  Is there anything else you would like to add?

Senator Cochran:  I would hope that at the time your readers see this published interview, a Healthy Forests Restoration Act will have been enacted with the protections that ensure the responsible management of our forests, improvements to soil and water quality and protection of wildlife habitat.  Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the efforts of our Committee.

WiNR:  Thank you for sharing your views and legislation on the Healthy Forests Initiative.