Tag Archives: wilderness bill

Tester’s “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” gets new Senate hearing

May 25, 2011Environmental Issues, NewsForest Jobs and Recreation Act, Jon Tester, logging mandate, wilderness bill, wilderness designationnfpa

From an AP article posted in today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s bill to increase both logging and wilderness areas in Montana was the focus of another Senate hearing Wednesday as the Democrat hopes to move forward a plan that has already become an issue in his high-profile election challenge from Republican U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in Washington again took testimony on a re-introduced version of a bill Tester first put forward nearly two years ago. Committee members expressed interest in working with Tester to advance a measure that died late last year as part of a last-minute budget bill.

Continue reading . . .

Tester to take another swing at passing forest bill

January 4, 2011Environmental Issues, NewsForest Jobs and Recreation Act, Jon Tester, wilderness billnfpa

Here’s the Missoulian’s write-up on Sen. Jon Tester’s plans to take another swing at getting his “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” passed this year . . .

Sen. Jon Tester plans to reintroduce his Forest Jobs and Recreation Act this year with no changes, but hopes to bring more Montanans to its support.

“The work doesn’t get done on the far left and it doesn’t get done on the far right,” Tester said during a meeting with the Missoulian editorial board on Monday. “It gets done in the middle…

Continue reading . . .

Tester plans to try again on “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act”

January 3, 2011Environmental Issues, NewsForest Jobs and Recreation Act, Jon Tester, wilderness billnfpa

Sen. Jon Tester plans to take another swing at his “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” starting early this year.

The Missoulian has the story . . .

Supporters of Sen. Jon Tester’s logging/wilderness bill hope an earlier start this year will break a quarter-century stall in Montana lands policy.

“I think at the end of this Congress, we all realized that even for a bill that’s broadly supported in the state, how hard it is to get a bill through the congressional calendar,” said Tom France of the National Wildlife Federation, which supported Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. “There’s a sense of disappointment that we ran out of time.”

Continue reading . . .

Tester’s forest bill likely dead this year

December 18, 2010Environmental Issues, NewsForest Jobs and Recreation Act, Forest Jobs and Restoration Pilot Initiative, Jon Tester, wilderness billnfpa

Well, it looks like that’s pretty much it for Jon Tester’s “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” this year.

The Associated Press has the story . . .

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s bill to increase both logging and wilderness areas appears to be dead this Congress after the Senate abandoned a huge catchall spending measure that included it.

Tester’s bill was added to the legislation Tuesday, but Democrats controlling the Senate abandoned the spending measure late Thursday after an outcry from conservatives who complained it was stuffed with more than $8 billion in pet projects known as earmarks.

Read the full article . . .

More detail available on Tester’s “Forest Jobs & Recreation Act”

December 15, 2010Environmental Issues, NewsForest Jobs and Recreation Act, Forest Jobs and Restoration Pilot Initiative, Jon Tester, wilderness billnfpa

As mentioned yesterday, Sen. Jon Tester’s “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” has been rolled into the massive, end-of-year, Senate omnibus appropriations bill. There have been some, fairly minor, revisions to the act– nothing substantive. Neither the act’s supporters or opponents seem willing to predict its chances for passage.

Today’s Missoulian has an expanded article on the FJRA, including a discussion of the most recent changes.
Sen. Tester’s web site also has a page devoted to the act’s current status, as well as links to the actual text and associated maps.

Tester’s forest bill added to Senate appropriations measure

December 14, 2010Environmental Issues, NewsForest Jobs and Recreation Act, Forest Jobs and Restoration Pilot Initiative, Jon Tester, wilderness billnfpa

Sen. Jon Tester’s “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” has been stubbed onto one of those end-of-year Senate appropriations bills. The biggest change from the original proposal appears to be the longer and more obscure title. It is now the “Forest Jobs and Restoration Pilot Initiative.” Today’s Missoulian has the story . . .

A revised version of Sen. Jon Tester’s Montana logging and wilderness initiative has been included in a last-minute omnibus appropriations bill before the U.S. Senate.

Tester spokesman Aaron Murphy said on Tuesday the renamed “Forest Jobs and Restoration Pilot Initiative” is essentially the original version of a bill Tester submitted last year as the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.

Read the full article . . .

Tester announces changes to “wilderness bill”

February 5, 2010Environmental Issues, NewsForest Jobs and Recreation Act, Jon Tester, wilderness bill, wilderness designationnfpa

If you’ve been following the progress of Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, this is fairly interesting.

From today’s Missoulian . . .

Reacting to both criticism and constructive advice, Sen. Jon Tester revealed a thick list of changes to his Forest Jobs and Recreation Act during a visit to Missoula on Friday.

In all, Tester proposed 21 changes to S. 1470…

Read the entire article . . .

Tester’s “wilderness bill” far from a sure thing

January 10, 2010Environmental Issues, NewsForest Jobs and Recreation Act, Jon Tester, wilderness bill, wilderness designationnfpa

Today’s Missoulian has a pretty good status report — with video, no less — on Senator Jon Tester’s proposed Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.

Here’s the lead-in . . .

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act awaits committee action in Washington, D.C., but back home his fellow Montanans are busy pushing and pulling at the proposed wilderness set-asides and logging mandates.

Read the entire article . . .

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

January 4, 2010Environmental Issues, NewsDenny Rehberg, Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, Jon Tester, wilderness bill, wilderness designationnfpa

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 . . .

Congressman Rehberg to hold “listening sessions” on Tester’s wilderness proposal

December 23, 2009Environmental Issues, NewsDenny Rehberg, Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, Jon Tester, wilderness billnfpa

Congressman Denny Rehberg is still testing the waters when it comes to taking a position on Senator Jon Tester’s “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.” Rehberg has lined up five “listening sessions” on the proposal at various sites around Montana.

Read the press release for details.