Federal forest practices blamed for Tripod fire

OKANOGAN, Wash. – Federal forest practices contributed to the state’s biggest wildfire in more than a century, and rules for cutting burned trees could lead to much of that timber going to waste, a congressional panel was told Wednesday.

A steady stream of speakers told the House Forest and Forest Health Subcommittee that the federal government is hamstrung by bureaucracy and doesn’t do enough to manage its timberlands before the fires start.

This summer’s Tripod Complex fire – which has burned some 175,000 acres, the largest wildfire in Washington since 1903 – was foreseeable, said state Sen. Bob Morton, R-Orient. The region suffers from long-term drought and bug infestation.

“We knew the fire was going to come. It was just a matter of time,” Morton said.

Morton got a round of applause from the more than 300 people who filled the folding chairs on the concrete floor of the Okanogan Agri-Plex when he railed against the “marbled habitats of environmental attorneys.” Other invited witnesses got similar responses to shots at environmental appeals to timber sales.

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris, who invited the subcommittee to hold a hearing on wildfire management practices in the town, called for changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental impact statements for most projects on federal lands. Over the past 18 months, she headed up a special task force studying the landmark environmental law.

“NEPA’s made it more difficult for us to manage our forests,” McMorris said. “Endless lawsuits have crippled the timber sales program.”

But former Twisp Mayor Jim Doran of Community Forest Resources said the problem isn’t with the law, it’s with an “us vs. them” approach that permeates forest issues. That is being replaced by collaboration among loggers, foresters, environmentalists, mill owners and local government, he said.

“You shouldn’t be harping on litigation,” Doran told McMorris and subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., the only other committee member to make the trip. “There’s no litigation on projects put through the collaborative process. Not one.”

Walden seemed incredulous that some of those involved in timber sales proposals – presumably environmental groups – wouldn’t sue “if they don’t get everything they want.”

But Doran insisted that “success breeds success” on timber sale proposals. What slows down some of the projects is a lack of staff for the Forest Service to do the required studies, he said.

“Maybe we can improve the NEPA process to encourage cooperation,” McMorris said. In a follow-up interview, she added that the Forest Service rules might be streamlined to be more like Washington state and tribal rules.

With just more than a month left in her first re-election campaign, McMorris brought the hearing to the hometown of her Democratic challenger, rancher Peter Goldmark. Okanogan was the only county in the 5th Congressional District where Goldmark drew more votes than McMorris in the Sept. 19 primary, and his 4-foot-by-8-foot campaign signs have a slight edge over hers on the stretch of U.S. 97 leading into town.

Goldmark didn’t attend the hearing, and his campaign manager declined to comment on its substance or location.

Although there were fliers on the signup table inviting people to a $10-per-person campaign event in nearby Brewster later in the evening, McMorris rejected any suggestion that there was a political component to the hearing. It’s the sixth congressional hearing she has held in the district in the past two years and is a chance for members of Congress and committee staff to get a better understanding of regional issues from the people affected, she said.

Okanogan was chosen because it was close to the site of the Tripod Complex fire.