Friday Feb. 10, 2012
Comments on: Why Should I Support Tester’s Wilderness Bill?
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By Matthew Koehler on 12-17-09
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More information about Tester’s bill, including a detailed, line-by-line analysis of what the bill would actually do, is available here:

http://testerloggingbilltruths.wordpress.com
By Matthew Koehler on 12-19-09
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Isn’t it quite interesting that the Under Secretary of Agriculture (the person who runs the entire US Forest Service) has come out so strongly against the major provisions of Sen Tester’s S1470, the so-called Forest Jobs and Recreation Act?

The Under Secretary’s testimony delivered on Thursday to the Senate is here:

http://energy.senate.gov/public/_files/ShermanTestimonyonS1470121709.pdf

Keep in mind that the major concerns expressed quite clearly by Under Secretary Sherman and the Obama Administration have been (quite literally) the same exact concerns that many conservation groups in Montana and around the country, as well as citizens, have been expressing about this bill for months.

Concerns in S1470 such as: mandated logging overriding NFMA and science-based planning, undermining NEPA with unachievable timelines, unfunded mandate that could force other forests in Region 1 and nationally to transfer funds to MT, localization that will lead to balkanization of national forest system, the logging proposed on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge in this bill is “likely unachievable and perhaps unsustainable” (direct quote from Under Secretary Sherman).

So far, Senator Tester, his staff and the supporters of his bill have completely ignored all of these concerns, instead resorting to “shooting the messenger” tactics. Not sure if that’s an option for them any longer.

http://testerloggingbilltruths.wordpress.com