{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://dustyjohnson.house.gov/media/press-releases/johnson-black-hills-national-forest-hit-your-targets-or-risk-mill-shutdowns", "Johnson to Black Hills National Forest: Hit Your Targets or Risk Mill Shutdowns", "2024-03-05", "2024", "2024-03", "Republican", "House", "SD", "Dusty Johnson", "J000301", "dustyjohnson.house.gov", "dustyjohnson", "https://dustyjohnson.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) with the House Agriculture Committee and Reps. Austin Scott (R-GA) and Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) hosted a roundtable in Spearfish, South Dakota to discuss dire needs in the Black Hills forestry industry. Members of the U.S. Forest Service and local forestry industry addressed the failure of the Forest Service to hit their harvest goals and how that failure is risking timber jobs in the area. When the Forest Service doesn\u2019t hit their targets, mills like Neiman Enterprises are at risk of closure, causing the loss of jobs and the infrastructure needed to manage the forest.\n\n\u201cThe forestry industry has a significant impact on the economy of the Black Hills and many families in the area,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cWhen timber targets aren\u2019t met, timber mills are at risk of closure. When mills close, we lose the jobs and infrastructure necessary to manage the forest. I truly appreciate my colleagues who sacrificed a weekend with their family to see our state and learn how our residents will be impacted. It shows how important the issue is on a national level. I\u2019m grateful for the members of the forestry industry who participated in the conversation and the community leaders who came out to listen.\u201d\n\nImage\n\nImage\n\nJohnson\u2019s roundtable in Spearfish\n\nRoundtable Participants:\n\nRep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), House Agriculture Committee member\n\nRep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Forestry\n\nRep. Austin Scott(R-GA), Vice Chair of the House Agriculture Committee\n\nMr. Frank Beum, Regional Forester, U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region\n\nMr. Paul Pierson, Operations Manager, Neiman Enterprises\n\nMr. Robert Christian, Former President, Black Hills Log Haulers Association\n\nMr. Ben Wudtke, Executive Director, Black Hills Forest Resource Association\n\nMr. Marcus Warnke, State Forester, South Dakota Department of Agriculture & Natural Resources\n\nMr. Shawn Cochran, Supervisor, Black Hills National Forest\n\nBackground:\n\nThe Black Hills National Forest (BHNF), located in western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming, is a unit of the National Forest System covering over 1.25 million acres. The BHNF produced the U.S. Forest Service\u2019s first federal timber sale in 1899 and remains one of the agency\u2019s highest timber producing forests in the country, but BHNF has been missing their targets the last few years, causing concern for the industry.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T20:32:04Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://dustyjohnson.house.gov/media/press-releases/johnson-black-hills-national-forest-hit-your-targets-or-risk-mill-shutdowns"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6889980286359787, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}