Forest Chief Shifts Focus To Clean Water Dombeck’s Speech Suggests Agency Needs To Learn Limits

The U.S. Forest Service needs to focus more on clean water and flood control, Forest Service chief Mike Dombeck said Monday, signaling that logging no longer may be king.

“We can leave no greater gift for our children, show no greater respect for our forefathers, than to leave (the) watersheds entrusted to our care healthier, more diverse and more productive,” Dombeck said.

“That is my vision for this great agency. And with your help, it can be our most important and lasting legacy.”

Dombeck harked back to 100-year-old legislation during his speech to about 300 agency employees in Washington, D.C.

People most often talk about the 1897 Organic Act in terms of logging, he noted. But the driving force behind that early Forest Service legislation was better, intact watersheds that “absorb rain, recharge underground aquifers, provide cleaner water to people and reduce drinking water treatment costs,” Dombeck said.

“Healthy watersheds dissipate floods, … increasing soil fertility and minimizing damage to lives, property and streams.”

That’s important considering at least 900 municipal watersheds are surrounded by national forests.

Politics will continue to insert itself into natural resource management, he said, acknowledging the furor over some of his recent proposals, including a “time-out” on new logging road construction in some roadless areas.

“Our jobs are not easy jobs,” Dombeck said. But “conservation has moved from a ‘special interest’ to a national priority.”

The Forest Service must be a leader in using the best science and the best managers to accomplish “what I think is one of the noblest, most important callings of our generation - bringing people together and helping them find ways to live within the limits of the land.”

That also is a marked shift for an agency more known for an attitude of limitless resource production from national forests.

Dombeck’s speech is not likely to be well received by Western Republicans in Congress. Last week, a group of them threatened to ax the agency’s budget in retaliation for the road construction moratorium in roadless areas.

That group included U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, Reps. Don Young, R-Alaska, and U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Idaho.

Dombeck and Assistant Agriculture Secretary Jim Lyons, who oversees the Forest Service, are scheduled to testify today before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska.

Meanwhile, Lyons is publicly taking issue with the funding threats.

“In many respects it was about trying to scare the hell out of our employees - to make them fear that unless the agency continues to focus primarily on timber, that budgets will be reduced, that employees’ jobs will be at risk,” Lyons said after Dombeck’s speech.

Dombeck, meanwhile, said today’s Forest Service has two choices.

“We can sit back on our heels and react to the newest litigation, the latest court order, or the most recent legislative proposal,” Dombeck said.

“Or we can lead by example. We know today that healthy forests do far more than grow trees and provide timber. …

“Sustainable communities and economic prosperity depend on the full array of products and values from a healthy forest.”

Dombeck, a fisheries biologist from Wisconsin, was named chief just over a year ago. He has placed special attention on the harm logging and road-building can cause on fish-bearing streams.

Staff writer Ken Olsen contributed to this report.

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This sidebar appeared with the story: OTHER PLANS Forest Service chief Mike Dombeck also announced the agency will look for new money to: Increase abandoned mine reclamation by 50 percent. Double the thinning of “unnaturally dense” forests, especially near urban areas. Increase money for recreation management by $20 million. Increase road maintenance funding 26 percent. Perform 40 percent more stream and riparian area restoration. Increase habitat restoration and conservation of troubled species by 30 percent. Push the use of prescribed fire and fire-prevention logging to 1.5 million acres.