Forest Management Helps Tame Wildfire, Even in High Winds
April 15, 2022: The Wabash Springs fire ignited on the Black Hills National Forest, near Custer, South Dakota, last week. The area was relatively dry and was experiencing high winds (estimated between 40 and 60 mph).
“Everybody just came together almost like it was clock work” said U.S. Forest Service Public Affairs Officer Scott Jacobsen. “The fuels treatment and the thinning that’s been done in and around that area for the last 8-10 years certainly made a difference.” (Quoted here).
“The firefighters did not sit back on this and used a dozer to connect forest roads and get a line around the fire quickly – undoubtedly helped by good roads access and thinned stand conditions,” said Ben Wudtke, Executive Director of the Intermountain Forest Association.
“Forest management played a critical role in reducing the fuel loads and forest density, creating stand conditions that exhibited textbook resilience to wildfire,” Wudtke added. “I walked a good portion of the burn area and flew over the entire fire with a drone. Based on what I saw, I could count the number of dead trees taller than breast height on one hand.”
Wudtke said this was the second fire the Black Hills had seen in recent months that ignited during critical fire weather conditions but was kept at bay through a combination of forest management and quick actions from firefighters.
For more information, contact Bill Imbergamo, Executive Director, at 703-629-6877 or bill@fedforest.org
About the FFRC: FFRC is a national coalition of wood products companies, local governments, conservation groups united by concern for the National Forests. FFRC supports improving the management of the federal lands to support healthy forests and vibrant rural communities.
FFRC Supports No Timber From Tyrants Act
Washington, DC: April 7, 2022 – Federal Forest Resource Coalition Executive Director Bill Imbergamo issued the following statement on the introduction of the No Timber From Tyrants Act”:
“The American people are facing significant challenges from inflation, including a staggering increase in housing costs. Our National Forests can help meet the needs of our domestic lumber and panel markets, and they can do so sustainably. In fact, right now, the National Forests are badly under managed, which contributes to both the ongoing forest health and wildfire crisis and to unsustainably high housing costs. Under current Forest Plans, we can double the amount of harvest, and do it sustainably.
The No Timber From Tyrants Act doesn’t open a single new acre of National Forest to harvest, and doesn’t waive any environmental laws. We can meet domestic timber market needs from National Forests and BLM lands without compromising our environmental standards or helping support international aggression.”
For more information, contact Bill Imbergamo, Executive Director, at 703-629-6877 or bill@fedforest.org
About the FFRC: FFRC is a national coalition of wood products companies, local governments, conservation groups united by concern for the National Forests. FFRC supports improving the management of the federal lands to support healthy forests and vibrant rural communities.
Press Statement by the Federal Forest Resource Coalition on Fiscal Year 2023 Forest Service and BLM Budgets:
March 10, 2022: The Federal Forest Resource Coalition this week submitted testimony in support of improved management of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management forests and called for increased timber outputs to restore forest health, reduce fire danger, and supply wood products for the American people.
“The National Forests are a conservation success story, but unless we invest in their management, they face an uncertain future,” FFRC Executive Director Bill Imbergamo said. “The Forest Service recently acknowledged that there is a forest health and wildfire crisis on our National Forests. The Infrastructure bill has provided significant new resources to the Forest Service, but the annual spending bill must ensure that the base program – which funds timber sales, restoration treatments, and road maintenance –be increased.”
“Forest restoration work is expensive – the Forest Service estimates that treating at risk acres and protecting communities will take $50 billion over a decade. Using value from forest products – through timber sales and Stewardship contracts – can help defray these costs, while generating wood products Americans need and employment in rural communities.”
FFRC’s testimony calls for 25 percent increases in both Forest Products and Road Maintenance funding. “These investments will produce benefits for every American by providing safe access to millions of acres of public land, as well as affordable wood products.”
“If Congress would adequately fund these programs, timber outputs from National Forests could easily replace imports from places like Russia – which
has no environmental standards and seems to enjoy invading it’s neighbors. We can produce those products right here in America, using our own resources, and following strict environmental standards. More than half the National Forest system is off limits to management – and the other half is badly under managed. We can do better, but only if Congress supports these investments.”
For more information, contact Bill Imbergamo, Executive Director, at 703-629-6877 or bill@fedforest.org
About the FFRC: FFRC is a national coalition of wood products companies, local governments, conservation groups united by concern for the National Forests. FFRC supports improving the management of the federal lands to support healthy forests and vibrant rural communities.
Federal Forest Resource Coalition
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