{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.daines.senate.gov/news/press-releases/daines-introduces-legislation-to-accelerate-forest-management", "Daines Introduces Legislation to Accelerate Forest Management", "2017-11-16", "2017", "2017-11", "Republican", "House", "MT", "Steve Daines", "D000618", "www.daines.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.16.17\n\t\t\t Daines Introduces Legislation to Accelerate Forest Management \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tU.S. SENATE\u00a0\u2014U.S. Senator Steve Daines today introduced\u00a0the\u00a0Protect Collaboration for Healthier Forests Act\u00a0to accelerate badly needed\u00a0and locally supported\u00a0forest management projects that will\u00a0improve the health of National Forests and get loggers back to work.\u00a0\r\nDaines\u2019 bill establishes a pilot arbitration program authorizing the U.S. Forest Service to use binding arbitration in Region 1 (Montana, parts of Idaho, North Dakota) as an alternative dispute resolution process for certain forest restoration projects. Litigation against forest management projects frequently take many years to resolve. Pilot arbitration authority would bring swifter\u00a0resolution to disputed projects. In doing so, hazardous fuels reduction projects\u00a0developed through a collaborative process\u00a0that are allowed to go forward will be implemented more quickly.\u00a0\r\n\u201cFringe litigators \u2013 radical environmental extremists \u2013 sue to stop commonsense collaborative forest management projects that would reduce the risk of wildfire,\u201d\u00a0Daines stated.\u00a0\u201cWe need to provide common sense relief to the Forest Service to get projects off the ground and out of the courtroom. We need to manage our forests, before our forests manage us.\u201d\u00a0\r\nStatements of Support:\r\n\u201cThe NWTF welcomes Senator Daines\u2019 proposal of a pilot program offering binding arbitration as an alternative to litigation. We believe this will remove another barrier to implementing important forest management, that has been recommended through a collaborative effort, in a timely manner.\u201d\u00a0Rebecca A. Humphries,\u00a0Chief Executive Officer,\u00a0National Wild Turkey Federation\r\n\"It is vital for forested counties that we get back to managing our forests. This pilot program will help keep vital forest management projects from becoming tied up in litigation. This will mean better fire mitigation, fewer lawsuits, and more jobs and revenue for forest communities. Thank you Senator Daines for sponsoring this important legislation.\"\u00a0Roman Zylawy, Chair, Mineral County Board of Commissioners\r\n\"The Wild Sheep Foundation supports Senator Daines\u2019s pilot proposal to advance collaboratively-developed projects to improve forest health.\u201d\u00a0Gray Thorton, President & CEO, Wild Sheep Foundation\r\n\u201cLack of active management of our forests has significantly impacted habitat for elk and other wildlife. One of the main reasons forests remain unmanaged and susceptible to insects, disease and wildfire is the staggering number of lawsuits filed by organizations seeking to stop all management\u2014despite the damage done to forest resources, wildlife and communities. RMEF supports arbitration to move\u00a0projects out of the courtroom and into the hands of stakeholders. Those who don\u2019t support an arbitration process at some level, aren\u2019t truly committed to solving the issues plaguing our national forests.\u201d\u00a0David Allen, President & CEO, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation\r\n\u201cThis bill is a good step toward improving forest management. Arbitration would protect taxpayer dollars by avoiding a lengthy court process and provide for certain projects to be completed in a time frame that actually accomplishes the goal of better forest management. This bill would also improve the prospects of salvage timber projects to move forward before the timber is no longer merchantable.\u201d\u00a0Rosebud County Commissioners\r\n\u201cMontana Wood Products Industry has long advocated for alternative dispute resolution as an option to deal with obstructionist litigation in Region 1 that impacts jobs in the woods and at the mills. We believe this reasonable approach will be a step forward in judicial relief that is desperately needed in Region 1.\u201d\u00a0Julia Altemus, Executive Director, Montana Wood Products Association\r\n\u201cThe Montana Logging Association has long witnessed the decline in forest management in Region 1 and the challenges the agency faces from serial litigators. We thank Senator Daines for offering this opportunity to the Forest Service and hope to see this authority move collaboratively developed projects out of the courts and back into the woods.\u201d\u00a0Keith Olsen, Executive Director, Montana Logging Association\r\n\u201cThe Protect Collaboration for Healthier Forests Act will provide an excellent opportunity to test drive the arbitration process and seek efficiencies and better outcomes in forest conflict management. I applaud Senator Daines\u2019 pilot approach to test the process through a program that is limited in scope, depth, and timeframe.\u201d\u00a0Mark Peck, County Commissioner, Lincoln County\r\nAccording to the Forest Service, there are 19 projects in Region 1 that are currently impacted by litigation. While other regions face frequent litigation, Region 1 experience litigation far more than any other region:\u00a0\r\n \r\nOf the 19 Region 1 projects currently impacted by litigation, 12 were developed through a collaborative process.\r\n \r\n \r\nFifteen of the 19 projects are in Montana. Ten of those were developed through a collaborative process.\r\n \r\n \r\nOf the 19 projects, 17 include acres that are inside the wildland urban interface,\u00a0which is defined as the areas where communities are in close proximity to forests that are at risk of wildfire.\u00a0All 15 of the MT projects impacted by litigation include\u00a0WUI\u00a0acres.\r\n \r\nThis legislation was cosponsored by Sens. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Jim Risch (R-ID).\u00a0\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n  \n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://www.daines.senate.gov/news/press-releases/daines-introduces-legislation-to-accelerate-forest-management"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4411869924515486, "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"}