Timber Harvesting on Federal Lands: An Essential Tool for Sustainable Forest Management*

Position

The Society of American Foresters supports commercial and non-commercial timber harvesting on federal lands allocated for such use through land and resource management planning. Current harvest levels on federal lands are insufficient to maintain forest health, to meet the goals for hazardous fuel reduction to reduce wildfire risk in the nation's forests and provide economic and community benefits. Current laws offer more than enough protection to sustain the full range of forest values on public lands. Timber harvesting is a legitimate use of national forests and BLM public lands, as the multiple-use mandates make clear.

Issue

Timber harvests on national forests declined by three-fourths during the 1990s, from 10.5 to 2.5 billion board feet (bbf) (USDA Forest Service 2000a). This is far below the long-term sustained-yield capability of national forest lands (12.16 bbf) and the Allowable Sale Quantity (7.56 bbf) established by land and resource management plans (Fedkiw 1998).  Consequently, social well-being in many forest-dependent communities has declined along with employment and income. Moreover, federal legislation (H.R. 1494) has been introduced that would entirely prohibit commercial harvesting on national forests.  To achieve healthy, sustainable resources and protect human communities, hazardous fuels treatments are needed on an estimated 40 million acres in the West and 18 million acres in the East using prescribed burning, thinning, and other types of harvesting (USDA Forest Service 2000b).[2] A substantial proportion of the forests needing fuel reduction treatments are on federal land, especially in the inland West, but the timber harvesting needed for fuel reduction is usually controversial.

Background

The Society of American Foresters believes strongly in managing forests sustainably. Sustainability is consistent with current policies (USDA Forest Service 2000b), and it requires simultaneously addressing economic as well as community and environmental values (Banzhaf 2001).

Policies.  National forest lands suitable for growing and harvesting timber are determined for individual national forest units through an established comprehensive planning process requiring public involvement (National Forest Management Act of 1976). Before Forest Service or BLM 
managers can implement timber harvesting projects, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 (NEPA) mandates that environmental impacts must be assessed, adequately documented, and presented to the public for comments. Furthermore, timber-harvesting operations must protect water quality (Clean Water Act of 1972), and must neither jeopardize the recovery of threatened and endangered species nor adversely modify their habitat (Endangered Species Act of 1973). In addition, Forest Service managers must protect the diversity of plant and animal species (National Forest Management Act of 1976).

Economic and Community Benefits.  Economic benefits associated with timber harvesting include supply of raw materials for conversion to consumer products, and employment-related effects. In total, approximately 2 million people depend on the forest products industries for jobs, which is about 1.5 percent of the total labor force in the U.S. (USDA Forest Service 2000c).  Policies resulting in minimal federal timber harvesting, in concert with economic factors affecting the forest products manufacturing industry, can have undesirable socioeconomic effects associated with employment loss, especially in timber-dependent rural communities (Cook 1995, Dumont 1996, Carroll et al. 2000).

Environmental Benefits.  According to scientists representing the Ecological Society of America, "proposals to ban all timber harvesting on National Forests would leave managers without a valuable tool that can be used selectively to restore early successional habitat, reduce fuel loads, and contain pest and pathogen outbreaks in some forests" (Aber et al. 2000).  Excessive accumulation of fuels is a major problem on federal lands. Human health has been adversely affected by wildfire smoke, a situation that can be improved by fuel reduction treatments (USDA Forest Service 2000b). Forest management can also produces benefits to the environment including enhanced wildlife habitat, improved water quality, and cleaner air.

Conclusion

Commercial and non-commercial timber harvesting has a role in active management strategies. Different management methods and treatments are appropriate for different places, given the variability of federal lands. Forest Service and BLM managers need all the tools available, including timber harvesting (Morgan et al. 2000). In western forests, for example, silvicultural systems using density and species management, along with prescribed burning, are key to their management (Graham et al. 1999). In summary:

• Severe wildfire is a major threat to the sustainability of forest communities in several regions of the United States, and poses unnecessary risks to firefighters and a variety of resource values.

• Timber harvesting is a reliable method of reducing these hazards and improving forest health by treating overly dense forests as part of a comprehensive silvicultural prescription.

• Timber harvesting provides wood products to meet consumer needs and provides employment opportunities in many rural communities.

• Land and resource management planning is an established and appropriate process for determining which federal lands are suitable for timber harvesting.

• Environmental analysis is an established and appropriate process for the Forest Service and BLM to document, and the public to comment on, environmental impacts of projects that include timber harvesting.

Recommendation

The Society of American Foresters believes that the condition of a substantial portion of federal timberlands could be improved with timber harvesting, and that rural communities and society would benefit from employment opportunities by providing industrial raw material supplies and manufacturing timber into consumer products. The SAF recommends that Forest Service and BLM managers be provided adequate flexibility to use timber harvesting on national forests and BLM lands where it is appropriate and in accordance with planning and environmental laws.

References Cited

Aber, J., N. Christensen, I. Fernandez, J. Franklin, L. Hidinger, M. Hunter, J. MacMahon, D. Mladenoff,
J. Pastor, D. Perry, R. Slangen, and H. van Miegroet.  2000.  Applying ecological principles to management of the U.S. national forests.  Issues in Ecology  Number 6.  Spring, 2000.

Banzhaf, W.H. 2001. Commentary: We stand for sustainability. Journal of Forestry 99(8):1.

Carroll, M.S., S.E. Daniels, and J. Kusel. 2000. Employment and displacement among northwestern forest
  products workers. Society & Natural Resources 13:151-156.

Cook, A.K. 1995. Increasing poverty in timber-dependent areas in western Washington. Society &
  Natural Resources 8:97-109.

Dumont, C.W., Jr. 1996. The demise of community and ecology in the Pacific Northwest: historical roots
  of an ancient forest conflict. Sociological Perspectives 35(2):277-300.

Fedkiw, J. 1998. Managing Multiple Uses on National Forests, 1905-1995: A 90-year Learning
  Experience and It Isn't Finished Yet. Pub. FS-628, USDA Forest Service, Washington, DC.

Ferguson, D.E. 1994. Advanced regeneration in the Inland West: considerations for individual tree and
  forest health. Journal of Sustainable Forestry 2:411-422.

Graham, R.T., A.E. Harvey, T.B. Jain, and J.R. Tonn. 1999. The Effects of Thinning and Similar Stand
Treatments on Fire Behavior in Western Forests. General Technical Report PNW-GTR-463, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR.

Morgan, P., L.F. Neuenschwander, and T.W. Swetnam. 2000. Written Testimony to a joint hearing on
"Fire Management on Federal Lands," Subcommittee on Forests & Forest Health and Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands, Committee on Resources, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., June 7. Online: http://tree.LTRR.Arizona.EDU/~tswetnam/Congress/ (2 July 2001).

USDA Forest Service. 2000a. Timber Harvest on the National Forests [1995-2000]. Forest Management
Staff, Washington, DC. Online: http://www.fs.fed.us/land/fm/s_h/2000q4harv.htm (2 July 2001). (Pre-1995 timber harvest data from Annual Report of the Forest Service.)

USDA Forest Service. 2000b. Protecting people and sustaining resources in fire-adapted ecosystems: a
cohesive strategy. The Forest Service management response to the General Accounting Office report GAO/RCED-99-65 [Online]. Available at http://www.fs.fed.us/pub/fam/Cohesive-Strategy-00oct13.pdf (2 July 2001).

USDA Forest Service. 2000c. 2000 RPA Assessment of Forest and Range Lands. Online:
 http://www.fs.fed.us/pl/rpa/rpaassess.pdf (2 July 2001).