Central Wyoming News

Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR), delivered remarks at a full committee hearing to examine the President’s budget request for the U.S. Forest Service for Fiscal Year 2025. The hearing featured testimony from Mr. Randy Moore, Chief, U.S. Forest Service, who was accompanied by Mr. Mark Lichtenstein, Director of Strategic Planning, Budget and Accountability, U.S. Forest Service.

Senator Barrasso began his remarks by expressing gratitude to the Chairman and Chief Moore for their presence at the hearing. He then expressed his concerns about historic investments and failure to meet targets that have been consistently pointed out by both sides of the aisle year after year.

He noted that Wyoming's forests - including its eight national forests - are crucial for sustaining local communities' way of life but face many challenges such as wildfire, drought, insect and disease outbreaks. He also mentioned additional pressures from sawmill closures.

In 1976, Wyoming's sawmills could process over 300 million board feet each year; however, according to the latest statistics from the Forest Service, this number has dropped significantly to just over 100 million board feet annually.

The senator highlighted that without better management of national forests, these risks will continue to grow and conditions will worsen. He expressed optimism about some budget priorities like funding to protect communities from catastrophic fire and pay raises for wildland firefighters but voiced concerns about the increasing requests for funds by the Forest Service.

Despite receiving more than $40 billion in additional taxpayer funds since 2021, Senator Barrasso pointed out that the Forest Service has not treated more acres or sold more timber nor expedited environmental review processes for forest management projects.

The senator acknowledged that while combating wildfires is a significant challenge for the Forest Service, having more money than ever before does not seem to have resulted in more work on the ground to address the crisis. In fact, he stated that the agency expects to treat fewer acres than it did last year and for timber harvest levels to remain flat in fiscal year 2025.

He emphasized that in Wyoming, sustainable timber harvests are essential for supporting local communities, reducing wildfire risk, and improving forest health. However, inconsistent log supplies from national forests undermine local sawmills.

Senator Barrasso concluded his remarks by stating that the Forest Service must change course and start managing forests in a serious and credible way. He expressed belief in the willingness of the forest products sector to help get this work done.