Legislative and Media Contacts
ISAF Position Statement on the Proposed "Logger Licensing/BMP" Legislation
Under Review by the October 3, 2007 Natural Resources Legislative Study Committee
Good afternoon and thank you for giving me the opportunity to share our thoughts with you. I have provided your staff person with a written copy of our statement.
My name is Lynn Andrews. I have been a professionally-accredited forester for 38 years. I have practiced this profession for 35 years in Indiana. I have been asked by the executive committee of the Indiana Society of American Foresters (ISAF), of which I am part, to share with you the position of ISAF's membership on the draft "Logger Licensing/Best Management Practices (BMP)" legislative act.
The Indiana Society of American Foresters, a chapter of the national Society of American Foresters, is made up of 166 membersÑall who represent the community of professional forestry in Indiana. This group includes: private consulting foresters, foresters who work for public agencies, private industry and non-profit organizations, and foresters who are faculty in our state universities teaching the next generation of professional foresters and natural resource managers.
As professionals having a diverse spectrum of experiences, and given a charter to practice by the public, we do agree that:
- The management of forestland for multiple values and benefits, including the growth and harvest of wood products, is essential to the citizens and natural resources of Indiana.
- Forest products can, and should, be extracted from a forest in a way that protects its long-term sustainability - including its productivity for wood products, its water quality and associated plants and animals.
- Professional foresters have the formal training and experience to manage forests for multiple values and benefits - including the protection of the forest and the extraction of forest products.
Position Statement
As a result of discussion and vote by the ISAF membership at its recent summer meeting, we respectfully oppose the current draft of the Logger Licensing/Best Management Practices legislation for the following reasons:
- As drafted, this would be the first attempt to develop a type of "forest practices act" for Indiana. While not against a forest practices act in principle, the ISAF believes that the process to develop this type of new, far-reaching legislation should initially include more stakeholders than occurred at the start of this process. While a few of our members attended the initial meetings as representatives of other organizations, ISAF was not initially invited as the goals and issues were identified. Nor were other stakeholders who would be affected and/or could provide valuable input.
- This draft legislation presupposes that Indiana forestland owners and timber harvesters do not utilize the Best Management Practices ("BMP's") that have been developed and promoted by the DNR Division of Forestry. We would note that the Indiana BMP guidelines are implied in state statue per the forestry operation section of the 2005 Nuisance Actions Chapter IC 32-30-6-11 subsection (d): "A forestry operation that conforms to generally accepted forestry management practices. . . . ".
- We believe, as currently written, this draft legislation unfairly burdens private forestland owners with unnecessary costs and restrictions.
- Finally, our understanding is that the major goal of this draft legislation is to stop the "bad actors", be they forestland owners or logging contractors, who do not utilize BMPs. We do not believe this goal will be accomplished by this draft legislation, as currently written.
Recommendations
The Indiana Society of American Foresters asks that your panel please consider the following:
- While it certainly has merits, this draft legislation should be tabled for now.
- Direct the DNR to clearly identify the problems that need to be addressed. For instance:
- Do the current BMPs need updating?
- Are BMPs generally not being followed? And, as a result, are there enough documented instances of impaired water quality to warrant such a broad-reaching law? The USDA's 1997 Natural Resource Inventory estimated that, in Indiana, forestland contributed 1.6% of the total soil erosion occurring from rural lands. The remainder was contributed by cropland and development.
- In reality, are there only a few "bad actors" that need to be controlled?
- A longer-term, more stakeholder-inclusive, process be initiated to determine if legislation is truly needed. And, if so, use a process that addresses the specific problems identified by the DNR. We would suggest a process along the lines of what was followed to develop the current BMPs in the late 1990s. These are widely accepted and are the basis of the forestry operations section of the Nuisance Actions Chapter legislation cited earlier.
Closing
Whatever legislative approach is taken to improve or mandate the use of forestry Best Management Practices, professional foresters should be involved in the discussion, design, implementation and review of any regulations pertaining to Best Management Practices that impact the health of forestland and its related resources in Indiana. ISAF would welcome an invitation to be involved at the onset.
Thank you for extending me your time and attention, and I would welcome any questions as your time permits.
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