FACT CHECK
Rep. Rehberg's 12-15 Conference Call
Popularity of the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act
►FACT CHECK:
According to Harstad Research, 73% of Montanans surveyed said they favored Sen. Tester's legislation, based on a description that the legislation will:
· Create jobs in Montana by directing the Forest Service to use light-on-the-land logging and forest restoration projects aimed at improving forest health and reducing forest fire risk;
· Employ forest stewardship contractors to restore Montana's damaged streams, forest roads, campgrounds and trails;
· Guarantee that motorized vehicles will have access to designated recreation areas;
· Protect Montana's wildlife habitats and watersheds by designating certain places as Wilderness areas in the Beaverhead Deer Lodge, Lolo and Kootenai National Forests.
Balanced use...
Rep. Denny Rehberg: "All of us know that there are areas we want to protect while at this time we want to have balanced use-multiple use. We want to have the ability if we go hunting to use-and it doesn't have to be motorized. You're not allowed to pull a cart or use a bicycle wheel in wilderness to get your game to take it out of the wilderness area. Those are the common sense things that the people of Montana say ‘I just don't get this.'"
►FACT CHECK:
Some critics are quick to call the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act either a "wilderness bill" or a "logging bill" depending on their political views (See Sherm Anderson's quote about "strange bed partners" in THIS STORY <http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_ad9cab68-07c7-11e0-8b1e-001cc4c03286.html> ). The fact is the legislation is a careful balance of wilderness areas, recreation areas, and mandated forest management (such as restoration, logging, and the jobs that come with it). In fact, the bill sets aside 369,501 acres in permanent recreation areas, expressly for motorized and mechanized use. And while it's true no mechanized vehicles are allowed into wilderness areas, those areas are accessible to all hunters, anglers, hikers, climbers, campers and wildland firefighters. As the result of public input, Sen. Tester's legislation would provide an exemption for irrigators to access wilderness areas to maintain irrigation infrastructure. In the Snowcrest Wilderness Area, the bill would also allow ranchers to access water infrastructure (such as stock tanks and piping), and access to trail sheep.
I don't know what's in the bill...
Rep. Denny Rehberg: "If I could ask you specifically what is in the bill, you would not be able to answer that question because it has been changed substantially from the way it was introduced. So if you were to go section by section I would suggest that you would not give an accurate answer as to what is in the bill."
►FACT CHECK:
The final version of the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act has been posted on Sen. Tester's website for weeks and is very similar to the version Sen. Tester introduced in July of 2009. The changes made to the bill were all a result of direct public input and public discussion (a summary of changes is online HERE <http://tester.senate.gov/Legislation/forestomniupdate.cfm> ). Over the course of the past year and a half, Sen. Tester has continually posted language of the bill and maps online, where all members of the public have had an opportunity to read and respond to them. The final language included in the omnibus bill has been online for review for weeks.
Wilderness boundaries?
Rep. Denny Rehberg: "I might point out - I'm looking at some numbers here in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge area, the Anaconda-Pintler and you're probably familiar with that. In the original bill there were 56,680 acres added to wilderness. In this new Omnibus, it changed - there are 65,407 so it went from 56,000 to 65,000. Nobody can tell me where those changes were made. What are the boundaries? Where are the maps? What were the additions? There are some other areas like that. The East Pioneers 76,000 to 77,000. Where? How? In the Highlands area, it went from 20,000 acres of wilderness added down to 15. Where's the change? There has been no discussion along the line. And that I think is the unpopularity of Congress' because this kind of thing is happening."
►FACT CHECK:
All boundary changes to the wilderness areas were made as a direct result of public input and public discussion. The changes actually result in 2,800 fewer acres of wilderness than the original version of the bill. All of the maps are-and have been-available online at: http://tester.senate.gov/Legislation/forestresources.cfm. All minor boundary changes were suggested by the U.S. Forest Services for easier management and surveying.
Beaverhead-Deerlodge: The new acreage for the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness is the result of a name change. The original version of the bill called for those acres to be part of the proposed Sapphire Wilderness Area. But because that area is directly next to the existing Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness, the Forest Service suggested naming it as an addition to the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness.
Highlands: The change to the Highlands Wilderness Area is another result of public input. The original legislation called for allowing infrequent helicopter landings in the Highlands Wilderness Area (a Butte firm trains U.S. troops in mountainous terrain of the Highlands). In response to concerns from the public, Sen. Tester dropped 5,000 acres from the wilderness area to allow for the continued training.
All minor boundary changes, including the East Pioneer Wilderness Area, were suggested by the U.S. Forest Services for easier management and surveying.
Not enough time to read the bill?
Rep. Denny Rehberg: "We have committed and will promise to give 72 hours notice on the internet of any legislation before it is passed so that the people won't have this same kind of a situation where in the dead of night, in the eleventh hour, legislation is crafted that people don't even know what they are voting on. This is where the mistakes are made and we just, we want to run a different House of Representatives."
►FACT CHECK:
All versions of Sen. Tester's Forest Jobs and Recreation Act have been available online ever since the original introduction in July of 2009. The language has been updated online as the bill was improved with public input. The overall Omnibus Appropriations Bill has been available online (HERE <http://appropriations.senate.gov/news.cfm?method=news.view&id=9ac3518e-7e19-4328-bf52-16a6c2a1d333> ) since 2:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time December 14. By the time the Senate votes on the Omnibus Appropriations Bill, it will have been online for at least 96 hours. By the time the House votes on the bill, it will be even longer.
Will litigation prevent jobs?
Rep. Denny Rehberg: "I suggested I would like to see the jobs created and I believe that we need to go into the forest and clean out the dead and dying trees but if you don't address the appeals process, then you haven't done anything because the wilderness advocates and/or the environmentalists who don't want any stewardship logging in the forest still have the ability to file the appeal. We've looked at this from every way we can possibly think of, of trying to change the appeals process and that has not been successful in Congress. You know, I love the approach attempt to suggest to there should be jobs in the forest, there should be restoration because we want healthy trees, we want healthy wildlife, we want a good ecosystem but if we don't do something with the appeals process, that won't happen and that's where the jobs are."
►FACT CHECK:
If this bill becomes law, the mandated logging and forest restoration will be the law of the land-an act of Congress. Under our system of government, judges can only make decisions based on their interpretations of the law. One of the changes Sen. Tester incorporated was to use a different judicial process. There will be no appeals allowed under this law. Instead, those who wish to litigate will have to use a process called objections, which helps prevent litigation by resolving differences early. In fact, the different judicial process incorporated by Senator Tester is from the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, which Rep. Rehberg supported.
Is the bill available online?
Rep. Denny Rehberg: "When would the 1,900-page [Omnibus Appropriations Bill] be available? I can check and see. One of the things I did do on both the stimulus bill and on the health care reform bill, as it was changed and presented, I put it on my website. And you could access that through my website. And just Google "Denny Rehberg" and that'll pop up. Or you can communicate with me on Facebook as well. We have the ability to put it on electronically. Again, this is one of the things that we promised we will change automatically after the first of the year, when we're in the majority. All these bills, any piece of legislation-and you won't see these kinds-but any legislation, before it's voted on in the House of Representatives must be on the internet for public review for a period of 72 hours before the vote."
►FACT CHECK:
Yes, the overall bill is available online-and has been since December 14-on the website of the Senate Appropriations Committee (HERE <http://appropriations.senate.gov/news.cfm?method=news.view&id=9ac3518e-7e19-4328-bf52-16a6c2a1d333> ). Sen. Tester's language is on page 893 of the bill. By the time the Senate votes on the Omnibus Appropriations Bill, it will have been online for at least 96 hours. All versions of Sen. Tester's Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, including the final version, have been available separately online ever since the original introduction in July of 2009. The language has been updated online as the bill has improved with public input.
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