Salvage logging bill sparks controversy

SAN ANDREAS – Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Granite Bay, this week introduced a bill to speed salvage logging within the 400-square-mile burned area of the Rim Fire.

McClintock says the bill is needed because lawsuits by environmentalists or regulatory hurdles could otherwise delay such logging so long that the wood inside dead trees would no longer be usable.

At least one environmentalist, however, says he supports massive salvage logging.

John Buckley, executive director of Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center, says McClintock’s bill could actually spark resistance to legitimate salvage logging because it contains provocative provisions that would allow logging within wilderness areas in Yosemite National Park.

Trying to allow heavy logging equipment into Yosemite’s back country could spark opposition to the salvage logging that needs to be done in working national forest lands that are not wilderness areas, he said.

McClintock’s bill, HR3188, would exempt salvage logging operations within the fire area from administrative review and from being challenged with lawsuits. It would also waive such logging from being delayed or prevented by existing laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and laws governing timber management for Yosemite National Park.

The Rim Fire, which started Aug. 17 and is still smoldering in remote areas between Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Cherry Lake, is the largest wildfire in recorded history within the Sierra Nevada. It burned roughly a quarter of the Stanislaus National Forest as well as part of Yosemite National Park.

The Stanislaus National Forest is a significant source of logs, and the fire’s damage represents a substantial loss of future timber supplies.

McClintock, however, says that as much as a billion board feet of timber could be salvaged if it is done within the next 18 months before insects and moisture degrade the wood in dead trees. “Moreover, revenues from the sale of salvage rights could be used to restore our ravaged forests and provide recovery assistance to cash-strapped local communities,” McClintock said. “But this can’t happen if salvage is indefinitely delayed by bureaucratic processes or the usual litigation filed by extremist environmental groups.”

Buckley said he is not aware of a lawsuit having delayed a logging project within the Stanislaus National Forest any time in the past decade. And he said so much dead timber is available for salvage in accessible national forest areas that it simply isn’t necessary for logging firms to seek to also take trees from remote areas in the wilderness or within Yosemite National Park.

Buckley said he supports “massive” salvage logging because it is important to remove the dead trees so that crews can plant new tree seedlings. That way the new trees can get a head start on brush and grasses that will otherwise choke out burned areas.

Co-sponsors of HR3188 include Congressman Jeff Denham, R-Turlock who represents southern San Joaquin County. The bill is scheduled to go to a hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee on Thursday.

Contact reporter Dana M. Nichols at (209) 607-1361 or dnichols@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at www.recordnet.com/calaverasblog.