{"id":3487,"date":"2011-12-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coloradowildlife.org\/uncategorized\/udall-highlights-usfs-findings-re-bark-beetle-mgmt-2\/"},"modified":"2011-12-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-02T00:00:00","slug":"udall-highlights-usfs-findings-re-bark-beetle-mgmt-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradowildlife.org\/udall-highlights-usfs-findings-re-bark-beetle-mgmt-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Udall Highlights USFS findings re bark beetle mgmt"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pasted below is Sen. Udall’s press release Dec.1, 2011 highlighting Forest Service findings to manage the bark beetle epidemic.<\/p>\n

U.S. SENATOR MARK UDALL\n\nArmed Services, Energy and Natural Resources, Intelligence and Aging Committees\n\n\n\nDecember 1, 2011\n\nUdall Highlights Forest Service Findings to Manage Bark Beetle Epidemic\u00c3\u00a2\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00a8\u00c3\u00a2\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00a8\n\nRequested Report Last Year to Fine-Tune Public Safety, Mitigation Approach\n\nPlans Further Actions to Help Clear Colorado's Dead Forests, Rejuvenate\nForest-Management Industry\n\nToday, Mark Udall announced the findings from a report he requested from the U.S.\nForest Service to study the bark beetle epidemic that has consumed millions of acres\nof Western forests.  The report looks at the conditions that contributed to the\noutbreak, the Forest Service response, ways to address it, and what to expect from\nthe \"new forest\" as it regenerates.  Udall plans to consider these results as he\ndevelops legislation that could reauthorize important mitigation and management\ntools, streamline the process to protect communities and watersheds in \"insect\nemergency areas,\" and support the forest-management industry.\n\n\"I appreciate the work done by the Rocky Mountain Region and the Rocky Mountain\nResearch Station in compiling this report.  As the mountain pine beetle epidemic\ncontinues to spread across our Western forests, it's clear that we need to address\nthe problem more intensely and effectively.  I will continue to fight for adequate\nfunding for our forest-management agencies to help them protect our public safety,\nnatural resources and local jobs,\" Udall said.  \"Based on the study's findings, I\nwill work with my colleagues in Congress to support provisions that have been shown\nto help the Forest Service and other agencies protect communities and restore\nwatersheds in beetle-kill and wildfire-risk areas.\"\n\nThe report, which Udall requested last\nNovember<http:\/\/ct.symplicity.com\/t\/muv\/a43358825a6041dd400ae2e1ba567ef6\/1857013680\/realurl=http:\/www.scribd.com\/doc\/74305803\/Udall-Requests-a-Bark-Beetle-Epidemic-Study-from-Secretary-Vilsack<\/a>>\nto identify how he can help the Forest Service better respond to this epidemic, was\npresented to the Colorado Forest Health Advisory Committee yesterday.  Titled\n\"Review of the Forest Service Response: The Bark Beetle Outbreak in Northern\nColorado and Southern Wyoming,\" it can be found\nHERE<http:\/\/ct.symplicity.com\/t\/muv\/a43358825a6041dd400ae2e1ba567ef6\/1857013680\/realurl=http:\/www.fs.usda.gov\/goto\/bark-beetle\/udallbbreport<\/a>>.\n Udall will take the findings into account as he considers legislation and develops\nan updated version of his 2009 bark beetle\nbill<http:\/\/ct.symplicity.com\/t\/muv\/a43358825a6041dd400ae2e1ba567ef6\/1857013680\/realurl=http:\/markudall.senate.gov\/?p=blog&id=343<\/a>>,\nthe National Forest Insect and Disease Emergency Act.  Changes that follow from the\nreport include emergency authority for the U.S. Forest Service to clear dead trees\nfor a reasonable cost, reauthorization of the Good Neighbor Authority (which allows\nthe Colorado State Forest Service to partner with the U.S. Forest Service on\nprojects that cross federal-state boundaries), and permanent reauthorization of\nStewardship Contracting Authority (which allows the USFS to trade goods for\nservices).  He expects to introduce a bill early in 2012.\n\n\"I'll also keep looking for creative ways to support our forest-management industry,\nwhich is so important to rural communities.  Most recently, I've seen how timber\ncontract relief for our state's few remaining sawmills and getting more homebuilders\nto use beetle-kill in home construction can help our state economy,\" Udall\ncontinued.  \"In particular, I see a promising avenue forward in the new technologies\nthat would create markets for beetle-killed wood.  Bark beetles might be here for\nthe long haul in Colorado, but we have an opportunity to mitigate the impact they\nhave on our forests, homes and local economy.\"\n\nWith the increasing need to clear forests of hazardous trees, Udall has worked on\nboth established and unconventional ways to address the bark beetle epidemic.  At a\nDenver model home built using pine beetle-killed wood in September, Udall called on\nColorado homebuilders to use beetle-killed\ntrees<http:\/\/ct.symplicity.com\/t\/muv\/a43358825a6041dd400ae2e1ba567ef6\/1857013680\/realurl=http:\/markudall.senate.gov\/?p=press_release&id=1505<\/a>>\nin their homebuilding in order to simultaneously clear local forests and create\nlocal jobs.  In August, he also worked with the Forest\nService<http:\/\/ct.symplicity.com\/t\/muv\/a43358825a6041dd400ae2e1ba567ef6\/1857013680\/realurl=http:\/markudall.senate.gov\/?p=press_release&id=1328<\/a>>\nto give struggling timber sale purchasers, including three Colorado sawmills and\nseveral independent loggers, the option to cancel their pre-recession timber\ncontracts to spur Colorado's timber industry.\n\nBelow are a few highlights from the report findings:\n\n\u00a2 What were the conditions that led to the outbreak?  While bark beetles are a\nnatural part of the forest ecosystem, they are now killing trees in larger numbers,\nat faster rates, over longer time periods, and over larger areas compared to past\noutbreaks.  The complete picture of why this is happening remains unclear, but it\nincludes climate change, previous forest-management practices that had suppressed\nwildfire and harvested timber selectively, and a prolonged drought that has stressed\ntrees and made them more vulnerable.  Forest treatments such as timber harvest and\nthinning could have helped, but there was a general lack of public acceptance for\nlogging.  In addition, funding for thinning projects did not keep up with the pace\nof the outbreak and only about 25 percent of the forests are even accessible for\nmost timber-management practices, due to steep slopes, lack of road access, or\nspecial designations like wilderness.  Finally, Colorado's timber industry has\ndeclined by 63 percent since 1986, to the point where there are fewer sawmills and\nexperienced forest workers in the state.\n\n\u00a2 What is the USFS doing about the outbreak? With only limited funds available, the\nUSFS has prioritized protecting human life, public infrastructure, and critical\nwater supplies by removing dead trees from hazardous areas.  They have also made\ngrants to wood companies to stimulate new technologies that would create markets for\ndead trees.  The U.S. Forest Service has made good use temporary tools \u2013 such as the\nGood Neighbor and Stewardship Contracting authorities \u2013 to help address the problem\nand supports Congress making these authorities permanent.\n\n\u00a2 What is the impact of the outbreak on wildland fire and water quality and\nquantity?  Research shows that the impact of pine beetle infestation on wildfire is\nunclear and will vary depending on ignition sources and weather.  In addition, the\npine beetle infestation itself has no significant impact on water quantity or\nquality.  However, note that catastrophic wildfire \u2013 regardless of whether it is in\ngreen or beetle-kill forests \u2013 can cause expensive problems for Colorado water\nproviders as siltation from burned ground runs into streams and reservoirs.\n\n\u00a2 What will the \"New Forest\" look like?  Scientists are working hard to understand\nwhat the forest will look like after the epidemic has run its course.  Studies\nsuggest that the future forest will look different based on what type of management\nwe decide to use now.  For example, if stands are harvested, it is likely that\nlodgepole pine will return.  However, if there is no treatment the forest tends to\ngrow back as subalpine fir.\n\nPlease contact Tara Trujillo or Jennifer Talhelm at 202-224-4334.\n<\/pre>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pasted below is Sen. Udall’s press release Dec.1, 2011 highlighting Forest Service findings to manage the bark beetle epidemic. U.S. SENATOR MARK UDALL Armed Services, Energy and Natural Resources, Intelligence and Aging Committees December 1, 2011 Udall Highlights Forest Service Findings to Manage Bark Beetle Epidemic\u00c3\u00a2\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00a8\u00c3\u00a2\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00a8 Requested Report Last Year to Fine-Tune Public Safety, Mitigation …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-news","7":"anons"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradowildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3487"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradowildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradowildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradowildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradowildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coloradowildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradowildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradowildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradowildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}