Tag Archives: Forest Jobs and Recreation Act

Practical politics: Rehberg stance on Tester’s “wilderness bill” a concern

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Watching Senator Jon Tester’s “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” make its way through the system is a real lesson in practical politics. It made it past the initial, more or less pro forma hearings in front of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Now, Congressman Denny Rehberg is getting into the act with a series of “listening sessions” around Montana.

An AP article by Matthew Brown posted today offers a good overview of the situation with Rehberg and some interesting analysis. Here’s the money quote:

As Rehberg tours the state this week to gauge public support for the measure, observers say where the Republican comes down could either help seal Tester’s biggest legislative achievement since his 2006 election — or put up a major roadblock to the bill’s success.

Read the entire article . . .

Obama administration voices concerns about Tester’s wilderness bill

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An AP article posted in today’s Missoulian summarizes some of the concerns with Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act expressed by Agriculture Undersecretary Harris Sherman during today’s hearings on the bill. (Sherman is the Forest Service’s boss.) This is one of those read-between-the-lines articles, not to be taken entirely at face value. Nevertheless, it has some useful information.

Here’s the lead-in . . .

The Obama administration said Thursday it has several concerns about Sen. Jon Tester’s plan to create more wilderness and mandate more logging in Montana’s national forests.

Read more . . .

Schweitzer Backs Tester’s Wilderness Bill

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From today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

The governor says he is backing U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s plan to both create more wilderness and mandate more logging.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, submitted the testimony in advance of Thursday’s hearing on the bill in the U.S. Senate. He says it will create good jobs with more logging.

Read more . . .

New York Times posts coverage on upcoming “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” hearings

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Yesterday’s New York Times carried coverage, with a minimum of snark, on Senator Jon Tester’s proposed “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” bill. The article includes a pretty good discussion of the issues likely to be covered during the upcoming hearings on the bill, which are scheduled for this Thursday.

Trying to satisfy everyone from wilderness advocates to timber companies, Sen. Jon Tester has proposed a new model for managing national forests.

The Democrat’s controversial proposal, which he has dubbed the “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” to emphasize its economic aspects rather than its wilderness components, would guide how federal agencies manage large swaths of land in his home state of Montana.

Read the entire article . . .

Baucus signs onto Tester’s wilderness bill

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From yesterday’s Flathead Beacon . . .

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester says fellow Montana Sen. Max Baucus has co-signed a proposal to both add more wilderness and require more logging on federal land.

Tester made the announcement Monday during a public meeting in Missoula meant to answer questions about the “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.”

Read the entire article . . .

Wilderness debate heats up

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Here’s an interesting article in today’s Missoulian discussing the renewed debate over designation and expansion of wilderness areas . . .

For more than three decades, millions of Montana federal acres have been de facto wilderness.

Over the past few weeks, those slumbering lands have been shoved back into the spotlight. And last Wednesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared the nation’s 40 million acres of “inventoried roadless lands” were properly protected by a 2001 Clinton administration prohibition on development.

But the 10th Circuit Court in Wyoming is deliberating on a mirror-reverse case, where a lower-court judge has declared the Clinton rule is wrong. That would leave standing a subsequent Bush administration rule allowing states to make their own rules governing federal roadless land.

And in between, Sen. Jon Tester’s proposed Forest Jobs and Recreation Act might open 1 million acres of Montana roadless land to logging, according to some of its critics.

Read the entire article . . . [link repaired]

Tester’s forest bill faces challenges

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The Flathead Beacon has a good overview, minus the sound bites and PR-speak, of the challenges faced by Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. Here’s the lede . . .

Jon Tester’s recently introduced Forest Jobs and Recreation Act may be the most significant piece of legislation he has created in his, still relatively short, career in the U.S. Senate.

Read the entire article . . .

Full text of proposed “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” available

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For those of you who prefer your information raw and unfiltered, this page has links to the full text of Sen Jon Tester’s proposed “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” and to the associated “Proposed Land Designations” map: http://tester.senate.gov/Legislation/forestresources.cfm.

A comfortable chair and beverage of choice recommended prior to reading.