Rehberg says forest bill needs to change before he’ll support it

U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg won’t support Sen. Jon Tester’s sweeping forest bill as it is written, the congressman said Monday, saying the legislation can’t deliver on promises of increased logging in the state. “One thing is clear: The bill does not and will not accomplish what it aims to and what we want it to,” Rehberg, a Republican, told the Chronicle’s editorial board on Monday. The bill has been pitched by Tester, D-Mont., and supporters as a compromise between forest stakeholders that would give the state new wilderness for the first time in nearly three decades while reviving the flagging timber industry by requiring that at least 100,000 acres of forest are opened up for logging in the state over the next 10 years. It would also carve out hundreds of thousands of acres of “recreation areas” that protect motorized use in the forests. But Rehberg questioned how effective the logging requirement will be. He said groups will still have the right to appeal timber contracts in court, potentially tying up timber projects in litigation while more than 600,000 acres of land is designated wilderness. Supporters of the bill acknowledge it doesn’t prevent lawsuits, but said wilderness advocates who are supporting the bill will stand behind the Forest Service and logging companies in court...read more