SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER AND POWER
AND
SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, FORESTS AND PUBLIC LANDS
Montrose Elks Civil Building, 107 S. Cascade Avenue, Montrose, Colorado
Monday, May 14, 2012
9:00 a.m. Mountain Time

• Official Hearing Transcript
• Press Release - Field Hearing Stresses Need for Active Forest Management to Suppress Bark Beetle Epidemic, Protect Water and Power Supplies (5/14/2012)

JOINT SUBCOMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FIELD HEARING ON:

• "Logs in the Road: Eliminating Federal Red Tape and Excessive Litigation to Create Healthy Forests, Jobs and Abundant Water and Power Supplies"

Watch the Archived Hearing Webcast:

OPENING STATEMENTS:

The Honorable Tom McClintock
Subcommittee on Water and Power Chairman

The Honorable Rob Bishop
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Chairman

The Honorable Scott Tipton
Committee Member

WITNESSES AND TESTIMONY:

Panel I

Nancy Fishering
Vice President
Colorado Timber Industry Association
Montrose, Colorado
(Truth in Testimony Form)

J.R. Ford
President
Pagosa Cattle Company
Pagosa Springs, Colorado
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Clint Georg
Partner
The Alden Group
Englewood, Colorado
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Dan Jiron
Regional Director, Rocky Mountain Region
U.S. Forest Service
Golden, Colorado

Sloan Shoemaker
Executive Director
Wilderness Workshop
Carbondale, Colorado
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Leigh Robertson
Grantwriter, Education/Outreach Coordinator
Uncompahgre Partnership
Ridgway, Colorado
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Jim Downie
Director, Vegetation Management and Ancillary Services Program
Xcel Energy
Denver, Colorado
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Gary Wilkinson
President
San Juan Trail Riders Association
Durango, Colorado
(Truth in Testimony Form)

David Dodd
Enviro Land Management, LLC
Whitewater, Colorado
(Truth in Testimony Form)

BACKGROUND:

Requested by Colorado Congressmen Scott Tipton (CO-03) and Mike Coffman (CO-06), the hearing will focus on how overregulation and litigation are inhibiting active forest management. Healthy forests, mainly achieved through the ability to access and manage timber resources, are a major source of economic and recreational activity, support thousands of jobs, and are directly related to water quality and power supplies to the surrounding areas.  The area around Montrose, Colorado has been significantly impacted by pine beetle infestation.  Without proper forest management, the pine beetle epidemic in the area and throughout the West will continue to worsen, jobs will be lost, the risk of catastrophic wildfire will increase, and water and power supplies could be compromised.  Witnesses at the hearing will identify current roadblocks to effective forest management and ways to reverse the damage that has been done to restore forest health and protect water and power supplies.