Coalition of timber, conservation, and business leaders urge Congress to support balanced management for the Colville National Forest at “Listening Session”

Spokane, WA—The Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition—a diverse, collaborative group of timber, conservation, and business interests—participated in a listening session on forest management hosted by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell and U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers in Spokane today. The session, “Communities, Collaboration, and the Colville National Forest,” included panels of local government, forestry experts, and recreation groups, including three Coalition board members.

In his testimony, Coalition President Lloyd McGee explains that the Coalition formed in 2002 after the timber industry and environmental groups decided to stop fighting and start talking about common ground over forest management. “We’ve been working together now for seven years and have found that there’s a silent majority of people out there who are tired of the contentious behavior and support moving forward with the balanced forest management the Coalition is proposing,” said McGee.

Coalition member Maurice Williamson noted that many of the issues the Coalition has tackled, including old growth, roadless areas and other forest management issues, took years of hard work and hundreds of hours in the field together to reach agreement. “Most of these items have historically been viewed as impossible to solve because positions have been established by a polarized society and have been embedded for 20 plus years,” said Williamson. “We have established common ground that is constantly in our minds.”

Mitch Friedman, executive director of Conservation Northwest, said “This emerging civil tone is no accident: Conservation is a bedrock American value. Across the country, communities are deeply concerned about the loss of their natural heritage. They are demanding more, not less, conservation.” Conservation Northwest is an active member of the coalition, though Friedman was not part of today’s panel.

Several members of the Coalition who testified echoed their concern that without help from Congress, additional progress on the forest could be stymied. McGee and other members of the Coalition argue that the forest is in need of additional funding and man power to get the work done that already has community support.

“At the current rate the Colville is putting out projects, it would take 80 years to treat the 400,000 acres where there’s already consensus agreement to actively manage,” said McGee.  “Members of Congress could help us get more flexibility for the Forest Service so we don’t keep hearing ‘no we can’t’ when the Coalition proposes projects that would improve forest health and create jobs.”

Coalition member Mike Petersen with The Lands Council noted that it’s no longer appeals and lawsuits from environmental groups holding up timber projects on the Colville.  “Since 2003, the Coalition, including my group, has helped the Forest Service increase its timber harvest three-fold to 61 million board feet in 2008,” Petersen said. “Yet the Colville is still having difficulty getting out projects,” he added.

Petersen also noted that the Colville planning staff had recognized only 4 roadless areas as suitable for wilderness, while the Coalition supports wilderness consideration for all but one of the 19 eligible wild areas.

Other panelists, including Petersen, McGee, and recreation panelists like 49 Degrees North Ski Area owner John Eminger, urged Congress to consider wilderness legislation that would safeguard some of the Colville National Forest’s special roadless lands.  “Many of these special places have been proposed for wilderness for decades,” said Petersen.  “Once most people see how wilderness provides a balance to the more managed lands on the forest where multi-use activities occur, they get it.  Once they learn that wilderness preserves rights to ride horses, hunt, fish, and experience a bit of our fading frontier heritage, they say okay, I can support that.”

McGee had specific suggestions for the Senator and Congresswoman that would improve forest health and create jobs in northeast Washington communities: “Right now, we have a tremendous opportunity to apply for a large, landscape level pilot project under the Forest Landscape Restoration Act, but we need to act now while we still have our forest products manufacturing infrastructure and a highly successful collaborative process in place.” 

Mitch Friedman, executive director of Conservation Northwest, said, “My hope is that the Coalition’s vision of wilderness and balanced forest management will stand the test of time, with healthy ecosystems providing a rich wildlife legacy and healthy communities enjoying that legacy.” Conservation Northwest is an active member of the coalition, though Friedman was not part of today’s panel.