| Lawmaker takes aim at forest
management
(Note: This gentleman is a hero; he's working hard to turn the tide that's been running so high against all logging in his beautiful state and throughout the country. He deserves our support, no matter where we live!) January 27, 2003 By Jim Mann 406-758-4407 Fax: 406-752-6114 The Daily Inter Lake 727 East Idaho Street Kalispell, Montana 59901 406-755-7000 To submit a Letter to the Editor: edit@dailyinterlake.com Rep. Rick Maedje, R-Fortine, is planning bills aimed at getting counties involved with federal forest management. Frustrated with recent litigation that threatens most planned timber sales on the Kootenai National Forest, the first-term state representative is drafting a bill that would empower county attorneys to intervene in lawsuits that can impact federal forests and the communities that depend on them. The legislation would also encourage county attorneys to press for monetary sanctions in cases that are determined to be "frivolous." While state government cannot compel federal judges to give counties intervenor status in court or grant sanctions, the Legislature can encourage county attorneys to get involved in such cases and press for sanctions, Maedje said. "This measure puts fringe environmental groups ... on notice that they may be well within their federal prerogatives to file frivolous and unnecessary cases that do nothing but delay or harm otherwise lawful timber sales or other environmentally sound projects or policies on federal lands," said Maedje, who is a contract logger. "In the state of Montana, however, they'd better get their checkbooks out if their suit is rejected by a court and has caused economic hardship or damage to communities like Lincoln County." Maedje said the bill is in "direct response" to a recent lawsuit against the Kootenai National Forest by the Missoula-based Ecology Center and the Lands Council of Spokane. That suit contends that logging of old-growth trees has exceeded standards in the Kootenai Forest plan. Forest officials dispute that claim. Lincoln County community leaders say the lawsuit could have severe economic consequences, because it threatens most timber sales planned on the forest over the next three years. Lincoln County has petitioned to intervene in the case, along with the Eureka Chamber of Commerce, Owens & Hurst Lumber Co., and EM Logging, a contract logging firm based in Eureka. Maedje is drafting another bill, the Montana Resource Use Protection Act, that focuses on federal land acquisitions and conservation easements. The bill essentially would require county commissions to approve of federal land purchases, also requiring that the federal government give up 1.5 acres for every acre of private land that is put into public ownership. Maedje said it's obvious that federal agencies often don't have the authority to "give up" land, so the bill lays out a method in which "retired" public lands can be put in a form of escrow. Asked if the bill could infringe on property rights, Maedje says there is a public loss associated when private land is turned over to the federal government. "Increasingly, private lands are being taken off the tax rolls," he said. "It affects the rest of us in a big way in the form of lost property taxes." The bill also would require conservation easements to be approved by county commissions "to ensure that natural-resource use is protected for future generations in Montana." Maedje's bill drafts have not been reviewed by legislative staff for possible constitutional conflicts. But Maedje said he is carefully crafting them to make sure they are legally defensible. |