Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003

HEALTHY FORESTS RESTORATION ACT OF 2003

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Mississippi for his courtesy and also for the extraordinary job he has done in bringing together people of diverse views on this critical issue of forest management. I also thank the Senator from New Mexico for agreeing to let me deliver my comments before he offers his amendment.

Responsible management of our Nation's forests is vital to preventing the highly destructive forest fires that we are seeing plaguing the West and also to protecting our ecosystems. I am very pleased the Senate is moving forward with this important issue which I know matters greatly to the Presiding Officer as well.

No discussion of a responsible forest management system would be complete, however, without addressing another threat to our Nation's working forests and open spaces; that is, suburban sprawl. Sprawl threatens our environment and our quality of life. It destroys ecosystems and increases the risks of flooding and other environmental hazards. It burns the infrastructure of the affected communities, increases traffic on neighborhood streets, and wastes taxpayer money. It leads to the fragmentation of wood lots, reducing the economic viability of the remaining working forests.

Sprawl occurs because the immediate economic value of forests or farmland cannot compete with the immediate economic value of developed land in the areas that are experiencing rapid growth.

No State is immune from the dangers of sprawl. For example, the Virginia State Forester says that since 1992 the Commonwealth of Virginia has lost 54,000 acres of forest land per year to other uses. The Southeastern Michigan Council of Governments recently reported that southeastern Michigan saw a 17-percent increase in developed land between 1900 and 2000.

In my home State of Maine, suburban sprawl has already consumed tens of thousands of acres of forest land. The problem is particularly acute in southern Maine where a 108-percent increase in urbanized land over the past two decades has resulted in the labeling of the greater Portland area as the "sprawl capital of the Northeast."

I am particularly alarmed by the amount of working forest and open space in southern and coastal Maine that has given way to strip malls and cul-de-sacs. Once these forests, farms, and meadows are lost to development, they are lost forever. Maine is trying to respond to this challenge. The people of my State have approved a $50 million bond to preserve land through the Land For Maine's Future Program, and they contribute their time and their money to preserve important parcels and to support our State's 88 land trusts. It is time for the Federal Government to help support these local community-based efforts.

For these reasons, I will be offering an amendment, along with Senator Harkin, that establishes a $50 million grant program, the Suburban and Community Forestry and Open Space Program, within the U.S. Forest Service, to support locally driven, market-based land conservation projects that will preserve our working forests and farms.

Locally driven and market based are the essential aspects of this program. This program is locally driven because it encourages communities and nonprofit organizations to work together with landowners to help promote sustainable forestry and public access. The program will allow local governments and nonprofits to compete for funds and hold title to land or easements purchased with programmed funds. Projects funded over this initiative must be targeted at lands located in parts of the country that are threatened by sprawl. In addition, the legislation requires that Federal grant bonds be matched dollar for dollar by State, local, or private resources.

This program is market driven because it relies upon market forces rather than government regulations to achieve its objectives. Rather than preserving our working forests and open spaces by zoning or other government regulation at the expense of the landowner, this program will provide the resources to allow a landowner who wishes to keep his or her land as a working farm or wood lot to do so.

The legislation also protects the rights of property owners with the inclusion of a "willing seller" provision that will require the consent of a landowner if a parcel of land is to participate in the program.

The $50 million that would be authorized would help achieve a number of stewardship objectives. First, the amendment would help prevent forest fragmentation and preserve working forests, helping to maintain the supply of timber that fuels Maine's most significant industry. Second, the resources would be a valuable tool for communities that are struggling to manage growth and to prevent sprawl.

Currently, if a town such as Gorham, ME, or another community is trying to cope with the effects of sprawl and turns to the Federal Government for assistance, they would find there is no program. My proposal would change that by making the Federal Government an active partner in preserving forest land and managing sprawl, while leaving decisionmaking at the State and local level where it belongs.

There is great work being done in Maine and in other States to protect our working forests for future generations. I am grateful for the many organizations that are lending support to this effort and which have also endorsed my legislation. There is a nationwide network of organizations that have endorsed my proposal, including the National Association of State Foresters, the New England Forestry Foundation, the Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Lands, the Land Trust Alliance, and many others.

By adopting this proposal and incorporating it into this bill, Congress can provide a real boost to conservation initiatives, help prevent sprawl, preserve special open places, forest lands, and farms, and help sustain natural resource-based industries.

I thank Senator Cochran in particular for his assistance on this legislation. It is always a great pleasure to work with him. I hope this proposal will be incorporated into the final bill.

Thank you, Mr. President.