Federal Reps Lament Congress’s Inability To Change Timber Policy

A congressional conference on national forestry policy was held yesterday in northern Wisconsin.

The Second Bi-annual Forestry Policy Conference was organized by three federal representatives from the Northwoods: Dan Benishek, R-Mich; Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wisc; and Reid Ribble, R-Wisc.

Ribble said that partisan gridlock harmed the forest industry by killing the farm bill and its timber policy provisions. Ribble called on his colleagues to be more practical, and less ideological.

State Sen. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, said Wisconsin is being hurt by the inability to change national forest policy.

Tiffany: “The national forests are not being managed appropriately, and that management harms the ecology of the area. It’s harming business development. Forests are a renewable resource. We should all be together on that.”

The Forestry Conference was attended by representatives of the timber and paper industries, federal, state and local politicians, national forest supervisors, and tribal leaders.