Tidwell: Seek program support, not money
Farmers and conservationists should ask member of Congress to support programs rather than ask for specific amounts of money, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell told the National Association of Conservation Districts.
“I wouldn’t be asking for more money but for support for the programs,” Tidwell told the NACD legislative meeting Tuesday when asked for advice on how to convince Congress to continue funding conservation programs. Tidwell also urged the board members to tell Congress that conservation programs “are a good buy for America.”
Tidwell also encouraged the conservationists to tell Congress about the importance of programs to help private forest land owners stay on their land.
Tidwell said he is much more worried about the future of private forest lands than public lands because the private lands can so easily be converted to commercial and residential development. He said he realizes there has to be some development, but wants to keep as much of the forest land in forests as possible, partly because land turned into residential development becomes fire prone and affects nearby forests.
Many ranches “have become five- to 10-acre weed patches,” Tidwell said. “It’s hard to mange five acres or 10 acres compared with 1,000 acres or 10,000 acres.”
There are predictions that the United States will lose 57 million acres to development over the next 30 years, he said. Development does not seem to be occurring during the economic downturn, he added, but developers are buying up land at cheap prices for future use. Often these developers are not good stewards of the land, he added, because they do not have a long-term interest in its use for farm, ranch or forestry purposes.
Tidwell said he has become convinced that “forest fires are driven by a changing climate.” He added, “We’ve never seen this level of dryness.”
The Forest Service is focusing on ecological restoration to remove stressors, he said. “We need to remove more biomass from the landscape than ever before. There is more risk of fire.”
But he added that some of the changes have improved forest health. Longleaf pine trees, he said, deal better with stressors than other trees, handle hurricanes better and are habitat for woodpeckers.
The Forest Service has formed an alliance with the Defense Department, Tidwell said, because DOD needs open space for its training missions. Longleaf pine trees, he said, help landowners stay on the land and with fewer homes built it is easier for the military to carry out its training assignments.
But government can’t afford to do everything to restore forest lands, Tidwell said. With 40 million acres that need restoration due to bark beetle damage, plus one Arizona fire affecting 500,000 acres, “I can’t imagine the public being willing to pay. There has to be economic value to the material that comes off the land.”
But that, he added, means maintaining mills and a forest product industry that has been challenged by the economic downturn. “We’ve got to get through this period of mills shutting down,” he concluded.
“I wouldn’t be asking for more money but for support for the programs,” Tidwell told the NACD legislative meeting Tuesday when asked for advice on how to convince Congress to continue funding conservation programs. Tidwell also urged the board members to tell Congress that conservation programs “are a good buy for America.”
Tidwell also encouraged the conservationists to tell Congress about the importance of programs to help private forest land owners stay on their land.
Tidwell said he is much more worried about the future of private forest lands than public lands because the private lands can so easily be converted to commercial and residential development. He said he realizes there has to be some development, but wants to keep as much of the forest land in forests as possible, partly because land turned into residential development becomes fire prone and affects nearby forests.
Many ranches “have become five- to 10-acre weed patches,” Tidwell said. “It’s hard to mange five acres or 10 acres compared with 1,000 acres or 10,000 acres.”
There are predictions that the United States will lose 57 million acres to development over the next 30 years, he said. Development does not seem to be occurring during the economic downturn, he added, but developers are buying up land at cheap prices for future use. Often these developers are not good stewards of the land, he added, because they do not have a long-term interest in its use for farm, ranch or forestry purposes.
Tidwell said he has become convinced that “forest fires are driven by a changing climate.” He added, “We’ve never seen this level of dryness.”
The Forest Service is focusing on ecological restoration to remove stressors, he said. “We need to remove more biomass from the landscape than ever before. There is more risk of fire.”
But he added that some of the changes have improved forest health. Longleaf pine trees, he said, deal better with stressors than other trees, handle hurricanes better and are habitat for woodpeckers.
The Forest Service has formed an alliance with the Defense Department, Tidwell said, because DOD needs open space for its training missions. Longleaf pine trees, he said, help landowners stay on the land and with fewer homes built it is easier for the military to carry out its training assignments.
But government can’t afford to do everything to restore forest lands, Tidwell said. With 40 million acres that need restoration due to bark beetle damage, plus one Arizona fire affecting 500,000 acres, “I can’t imagine the public being willing to pay. There has to be economic value to the material that comes off the land.”
But that, he added, means maintaining mills and a forest product industry that has been challenged by the economic downturn. “We’ve got to get through this period of mills shutting down,” he concluded.
