Commissioners question motives of legislative survey about federal land management

The format for questions from a state legislative committee on federal land management commissions is being called “prejudicial” by a Lewis and Clark County commissioner. State lawmakers who participated in the preparation of the survey and the Senate bill that called for it to be sent out disagreed with this assessment and said the county commissioners can answer the questions however they choose. The survey is being sent to counties with 15 percent or more of their land in federal ownership. Responses received by Aug. 23 will be forwarded to the Environmental Quality Council for its September meeting. Counties that don’t make this deadline have until Nov. 1 to complete the survey. Lewis and Clark County commissioners received copies of the survey on Thursday and were to complete their responses before the commission meets next week on Tuesday. Where there is disagreement in their responses, the various positions that the three commissioners take will all be represented, said Eric Bryson, the county’s chief administrative officer. Commissioner Andy Hunthausen said he was not sure of the motives of the survey. States such as Utah want to take back all Forest Service lands, Murray said, adding he thought the county commission agreed that this was not something it wanted to see happen.The first of the 21 survey questions asks, “Do current wildfire conditions on federal lands within your county pose a significant threat to: Public Health and Safety, Public Property, Private Property.” The survey then asks, “Do you believe fire hazard on federally managed lands should be reduced to protect public health and safety within your county? Yes, No, Unsure.” Sen. Jennifer Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, the author of the Senate Joint Resolution 15 that seeks to identify risks and concerns associated with federal land management, said the commissioners can respond to the questions in any way that they want. “I think the goal is to look for the ways we can improve land management in areas where it’s needed,” she said. What the survey is about, Fielder continued, is to identify concerns and try to find solutions to those concerns. Wildfire conditions are the result of management over time and don’t fluctuate very much, she said. Fielder called the survey a look at long-term forest management issues...more