Forest Health

FOREST HEALTH

Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I rise to speak for a moment on the Healthy Forests bill which, as we just heard from previous discussion, will not be brought up. I understand the points made by the Senator from Nevada with regard to the importance of the appropriations bills. None of us deny the fact that we have important work to do with regard to our budget and the appropriations process. However, there are other critical pieces of legislation this Senate must consider.
Among the most critical of those is the Healthy Forests bill. I serve as chairman of the subcommittee of the Agriculture Committee which handles forestry issues. It was that committee to which this legislation was referred when it came to the Senate. Our distinguished chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Senator Cochran, has worked closely with me as we have crafted bipartisan legislation to bring before the Senate. We have also worked closely with the Energy Committee, Senator Domenici, and Senator Craig, my colleague from Idaho, who happens by coincidence to chair the forestry subcommittee of the Energy Committee, and other Senators on the Republican side of the aisle as we worked to craft a meaningful piece of legislation.

We also reached out and worked closely in a bipartisan fashion with Senators from the Democratic side of the aisle because we knew this important legislation should not be stalled as a result of partisan politics. The result of those efforts, the initial effort in committee and subcommittee, was bipartisan legislation which Democratic Senator BLANCHE LAMBERT LINCOLN from Arkansas and I cosponsored to bring before the full Committee on Agriculture. The Agriculture Committee then made several amendments to the legislation, working in a bipartisan fashion with other Senators on the committee, and brought that legislation out to the floor. At that time there were still concerns being raised and, therefore, our leader, Senator Cochran, brought together a group of Republican and Democratic Senators with concerns about our forests and the conditions they face, and for several months we negotiated—again, on a bipartisan basis—to address the needs of our forests and the concerns raised by those who wanted to be sure we had a bipartisan, balanced bill.

We achieved that support. We came forward in a group of bipartisan Senators, Republicans and Democrats, with legislation that expanded the number of Democrats who would join with us on the legislation, including our minority leader and other leaders in the west from areas where serious forest fire problems are facing us.

Now after that long period and working in a bipartisan fashion, as we are prepared to bring the legislation forward, we are told it cannot be brought forward because there is objection to the unanimous consent request. We don't want to have a filibuster fight. We don't want to have a cloture vote. We have been working to build a balanced approach which can achieve support in the Senate.

It is my concern that what we see now is further delay, coming at a late time in the session, when we will jeopardize the ability of the Senate to meet its time considerations to address critical issues.

Our forests need support and help now. All anyone has to do with regard to the threat of fire danger is look back at the last 3 or 4 or 5 months to see the kind of threat our forests face. In addition, we expanded the legislation to deal not simply with fire threats but also threats from insect infestation—some of the most critical needs facing our forests in America today.

This legislation, as Senator Cochran indicated, is balanced. It is fair. It protects old-growth forests. It makes certain that public participation in the process of decisionmaking is preserved. It assures that the implementation of management plans by experts on the forests has a meaningful chance to proceed so we aren't tied up in litigation paralysis, and it gives us an opportunity to move forward and develop a plan that will help us achieve our objective, which is healthy forests.

I commend all Senators who have been working together on this issue, Republicans and Democrats. I particularly thank my colleague from Idaho, Senator Craig, and our colleague from New Mexico, Senator Domenici, as they have worked so closely with us at the Energy Committee level; and especially my chairman, Senator Cochran, who also worked closely with us; Senator Lincoln, who has worked with us from the start, Senators WYDEN, FEINSTEIN, BAUCUS, and others; Senator Kyl, Senator McCain. Many Senators have come together to work with us.

I am hopeful this critical, bipartisan, balanced legislation will not fall prey to the loss of time we face on the Senate floor at these late days in the session as we are moving forward. I urge Senators to come forward and help us find a path by which we can bring this legislation before the Senate and achieve its early consideration.