BILL REQ. #:  S-3569.1 

Read first time 01/11/10.   Referred to Committee on Natural Resources, Ocean & Recreation.

     TO THE HONORABLE BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE, AND TO THE CHIEF OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOREST SERVICE:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, Dry forests in western states, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, and Wyoming are suffering from high densities of dead and moisture-stressed trees that pose serious threats of catastrophic loss from wildfire, disease, and insect outbreaks; and
     WHEREAS, Realization of such threats would lead to soaring costs for restoration, fire control and management, atmospheric pollution from black carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, loss of supply and values for wood, fiber, and renewable energy, and massive environmental degradation of water, soils, and fish and wildlife habitat; and
     WHEREAS, Climate change and increased fire risk are linked, and scientific projections indicate that a rise in temperature will likely result in an increase in forest areas burned by wildfire; and
     WHEREAS, Disease, insects, and wildfire problems will become increasingly worse unless active management is undertaken on a large scale to restore forest health and resiliency; and
     WHEREAS, Collaborative efforts are the most effective way to ensure durable and successful actions on the ground in areas of inter-mixed or "checkerboard" ownership (as evidenced by efforts such as the Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative and the Northeast Washington Forest Coalition in Eastern Washington, the Lake County Resources Initiative in Eastern Oregon, the Flathead Forestry Project in Montana, and the Colorado Bark Beetle Cooperative), to effectively conduct forest health treatments; and
     WHEREAS, Stewardship contracting is a proven and effective mechanism to achieve forest health objectives on federal forest lands; and
     WHEREAS, Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack has announced a broad "all land" vision for American forests in which all United States Department of Agriculture agencies are directed to work together to sustain the entire matrix of federal, tribal, state, municipal, and private forests; and in this context, the Forest Service is committed to restoring the resilience of our forests to all types of disturbance and thereby improve watershed health, sustained water quality and quantity, shelter for wildlife, richness of biodiversity, community stability, and rural prosperity; and
     WHEREAS, Congressional direction to federal agencies and budget allocation through the Forest Landscape Restoration Act calls for "landscape-scale ecosystem restoration of priority forest landscapes," and the level of funding available within the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Fund will significantly affect the ability of all land managers dealing with this catastrophic situation; and
     WHEREAS, On October 28-29, 2009, the University of Washington's Northwest Environmental Forum convened a forum on "Eastside Forest Health: Challenges and Solutions," at which an invited group of more than sixty federal, state, tribal, and private forest land managers, in conjunction with university, government, and conservation representatives, considered the need to develop and implement an actionable strategy to restore and maintain the health of Washington's eastside dry forests;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the President and the United States Congress elevate the restoration of healthy, sustainable forests as a national priority and establish a framework that: (1) Facilitates and encourages active forest management on all ownerships; (2) informs the public of the benefits provided by maintaining working forest landscapes; (3) integrates service delivery for the various programs and authorities for forest retention and ecosystem services administered by federal agencies; and (4) recognizes the values and contributions of forests in federal climate change, renewable energy, and water legislation and policies.
     Your Memorialists further respectfully request the President and the United States Congress respond to the urgent need for collaborative, community-supported Forest Restoration and Wildfire Threat Reduction actions that emphasize "anchor collaborative" --managed landscape units of a significant scale with shared authority between state and federal agencies and tribal nations that accelerate multiagency cooperation, stabilize output/supply scenarios, and encourage infrastructure investments.
     Your Memorialists further respectfully request that the President and the United States Congress fully support and fund current Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative and Northeast Washington Forest Coalition collaborative efforts, and help create a "meta-collaborative" network to provide the basis for similar business-based models for forest health and restoration on eastern Washington's dry forests.
     Your Memorialists further respectfully request that the President and the United States Congress support longer (ten to twenty years) Forest Service stewardship contracts on larger acreages, with adequate funding to complete required environmental review and documentation.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Chief of the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the States of Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, and Wyoming.