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The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act is not, and has never been, a partisan bill. It enjoys large support across Montana from Republicans (like me) and Democrats, loggers, conservationists, hunters, snowmobilers and small businesses.
Still, some Montana politicians continue to drag this jobs bill into the same old politics as usual that have hurt Montana’s forests and killed lots of jobs over the past 30 years.
In today’s world of bitter, divisive politicians beholden to big corporations, we are incredibly lucky to have a senator who is neither. Jon Tester has worked tirelessly to build coalitions of Montanans from all sides to create legislation that helps us all. His Forest Jobs and Recreation Act is a fine example. This wasn’t a bill generated by Washington D.C.
In eastern Montana, oil and gas production is booming, while in the western part of the state the timber industry continues its decline. This begs the question, can we create a viable, long-term timber industry? An industry for the 21st century, not the previous one? An important step in achieving this is to provide the industry a predictable supply of timber from public lands. How do we do this?
It’s only January and I’m already tired of the political games of 2012. With that said, I’d like to address a question to Rep. Rehberg. Mr. Rehberg, do you or do Montana’s sawmill owners know more about the timber industry? That’s an honest question because, if I’m not mistaken, the sawmills who support Sen. Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act say that it’s good for their business. But in a recent tour of newspaper editorial boards you’ve claimed the bill doesn’t guarantee timber work. So who has it right?
Shortly after Senator Jon Tester introduced his Forest Jobs and Recreation Act (FJRA), I got a call from a woman worried about Tester taking away her elderly friends' right to drive their pickup into the East Pioneer Mountains to enjoy summer picnics.
"Wait a minute," I replied. "Don't you and your friends understand
that wilderness only involves the wildest, most remote places where there are no roads?" I explained that the places where we drive on forest roads aren't roadless lands. They're not affected in any way by wilderness designations.
Montana’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act again came close to passage last month. The bill aimed at creating jobs and improving forest management enjoys strong support in Montana and growing support in the U.S. Senate.
By talking, we learned that many things that people and groups want from the forest aren't mutually exclusive.
Had the Missoulian made one or two phone calls after Rep. Denny Rehberg paid his recent visit to the newsroom, I doubt the paper would have leant much credence to the congressman's proposal to add so-called "trigger language" to the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act (Missoulian editorial, Jan. 15).
The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act balances timber harvests with conservation of the most scenic and wild places in Montana. Intended to promote cooperation and collaboration in the management of national forests, it is the result of just that.
The bill already has the backing of timber interests from the Montana Wood Products Association to the Montana Logging Association, as well as local timber mills like Sun Mountain Lumber and RY Timber. It also has the backing of conservation groups, from Montana Trout Unlimited to the Montana Wilderness Association.
The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act (SB 268) was developed by Montanans working together. The FJRA is democracy as it should be. People who have different, often competing interests, but who worked hard to achieve common ground — Montanan loggers, mill owners, sportsmen, and wilderness advocates. The FJRA would retain valuable lands and waters for hikers and sportsmen, continue current motorized uses and provide hundreds of permanent jobs for Montanans.
Rep. Dennis Rehberg is touring the state, saying in one breath that government needs to get out of the way so small businesses can prosper -- and in the next breath that he intends to stand in the way of legislation Montana's community-based sawmills say would help them thrive.
Rehberg's opposition to the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act doesn't make sense -- at least not the way he explains it.
The FJRA was introduced by Sen. Jon Tester, and Rehberg is running against Tester in this coming November's election. Is that the real reason for Rehberg's opposition?
