HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 25
INTRODUCED BY D. HAINES
A JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MONTANA URGING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TIMBER SALVAGE AND FOREST RESTORATION PROGRAM.
WHEREAS, the year 2000 drought and fire season resulted in catastrophic wildfires that consumed nearly 1 million acres of private, state, tribal, and federal lands within the state of Montana; and
WHEREAS, approximately 600,000 acres of the burned land consists of federal land; and
WHEREAS, much of this burned-over federal land is forest land already accessible by forest roads; and
WHEREAS, the merchantable value of burned timber decreases rapidly as decomposition from insects and fungal disease develops over the following 12 to 24 months; and
WHEREAS, the standing burned trees pose a significant threat to public safety in many areas; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has moved rapidly to harvest an estimated 21 million board feet of timber from 4,000 acres of burned land in the Sula State Forest, thus employing hundreds of Montanans and salvaging some of the remaining timber value of the forest; and
WHEREAS, federal land management agencies should not miss an opportunity through benign neglect to produce some positive benefits from last summer's fire disaster.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
(1) That the federal agencies responsible for forest management in Montana be strongly urged to develop and initiate an aggressive timber salvage and forest restoration program that would:
(a) expedite the removal of as much merchantable timber as possible while it still has some marketable value;
(b) protect the remaining resources and ecological systems in the forest lands; and
(c) begin the restoration and reforestation process as rapidly as possible.
(2) That the federal forest management agencies in Montana, with the support and cooperation of all Montanans, actively solicit the financial, legal, and administrative support of Congress and the President in this emergency effort to salvage timber and restore the forest lands affected by last summer's fires.
(3) That copies of this resolution be sent by the Secretary of State to the Governor, the Montana Congressional Delegation, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Department of Interior, the Chief of the United States Forest Service, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, and the President of the United States.
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