Hearing Committee on Agriculture House Of
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
HEARING TO REVIEW FOREST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEPARTMENT OPERATIONS, OVERSIGHT, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION July 20, 2009, Appleton, WI Serial No. 111–26 ( Printed for the use of the Committee on Agriculture agriculture.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 52–846 PDF WASHINGTON : 2009 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:23 Jan 04, 2010 Jkt 041481 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 I:\DOCS\111-26\52846.TXT AGR1 PsN: BRIAN COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota, Chairman TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania, FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma, Vice Chairman Ranking Minority Member MIKE MCINTYRE, North Carolina BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia LEONARD L. BOSWELL, Iowa JERRY MORAN, Kansas JOE BACA, California TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON, Illinois DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California SAM GRAVES, Missouri DAVID SCOTT, Georgia MIKE ROGERS, Alabama JIM MARSHALL, Georgia STEVE KING, Iowa STEPHANIE HERSETH SANDLIN, South RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas Dakota K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas HENRY CUELLAR, Texas JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska JIM COSTA, California JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio BRAD ELLSWORTH, Indiana ADRIAN SMITH, Nebraska TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio STEVE KAGEN, Wisconsin DAVID P. ROE, Tennessee KURT SCHRADER, Oregon BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri DEBORAH L. HALVORSON, Illinois GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania KATHLEEN A. DAHLKEMPER, BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana Pennsylvania CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming ERIC J.J. MASSA, New York BOBBY BRIGHT, Alabama BETSY MARKEY, Colorado FRANK KRATOVIL, JR., Maryland MARK H. SCHAUER, Michigan LARRY KISSELL, North Carolina JOHN A. BOCCIERI, Ohio SCOTT MURPHY, New York EARL POMEROY, North Dakota TRAVIS W. CHILDERS, Mississippi WALT MINNICK, Idaho PROFESSIONAL STAFF ROBERT L. LAREW, Chief of Staff ANDREW W. BAKER, Chief Counsel APRIL SLAYTON, Communications Director NICOLE SCOTT, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEPARTMENT OPERATIONS, OVERSIGHT, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY JOE BACA, California, Chairman HENRY CUELLAR, Texas JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska, STEVE KAGEN, Wisconsin Ranking Minority Member KURT SCHRADER, Oregon STEVE KING, Iowa KATHLEEN A. DAHLKEMPER, JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio Pennsylvania CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming TRAVIS W. CHILDERS, Mississippi LISA SHELTON, Subcommittee Staff Director (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:23 Jan 04, 2010 Jkt 041481 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 I:\DOCS\111-26\52846.TXT AGR1 PsN: BRIAN C O N T E N T S Page Baca, Hon. Joe, a Representative in Congress from California, opening state- ment ...................................................................................................................... 1 Kagen, Hon. Steve, a Representative in Congress from Wisconsin, opening statement .............................................................................................................. 3 WITNESSES Higgins, Jeanne, Forest Supervisor, Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Eastern Region, U.S. Forest Service, USDA, Park Falls, Wisconsin ............... 4 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 7 Supplemental material ..................................................................................... 16 Frank, Matthew J., Secretary, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, Wisconsin .............................................................................................. 17 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 18 Supplemental material ..................................................................................... 25 Schienebeck, Henry, Executive Director, Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association, Rhinelander, Wisconsin .................................................................. 35 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 37 Dixon, Kathrine, Staff Attorney, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Chi- cago, Illinois .......................................................................................................... 38 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 41 Supplemental material ..................................................................................... 49 Johnson, William E. ‘‘Bill,’’ President, Johnson Timber, Hayward, Wisconsin .. 73 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 75 Zimmer, Gary, Senior Regional Wildlife Biologist, The Ruffed Grouse Society, Laona, Wisconsin ................................................................................................. 78 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 80 SUBMITTED MATERIAL Bartz, David P., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin ............................................................ 94 Connor, Gordon P., President, Nicolet Hardwoods Corp., Laona, Wisconsin ..... 96 Gehlhoff, Wendy, Director, Florence County Economic Development Commis- sion, Florence, Wisconsin ..................................................................................... 101 Guthrie, Steve, Woodlands Manager, Nicolet Hardwoods Corporation, Laona, Wisconsin .............................................................................................................. 105 Harrison, Steward P., and Schwantes, Michael J., Partners, Timberland Power Company, a division of Creative Energy and Data Solutions, LLC, Green Bay, Wisconsin .......................................................................................... 106 Hogue, Richard R., Clam Lake, Wisconsin ............................................................ 114 Kariainen, Steve, Resource Manager, Louisiana Pacific Corporation, Hay- ward, Wisconsin ................................................................................................... 115 Leach, Ph.D., Mark K., Bro Professor of Regional Sustainable Development and Associate Professor of Biology, Northland College, Ashland, Wisconsin . 116 Nehrbass, Christopher, Werner, Shahla M., and Uram, Eric, John Muir Chap- ter, Sierra Club, Madison, Wisconsin ................................................................. 119 Ouellette, MD, John J., private land owner, Madison, Wisconsin ...................... 123 Quast, Kimberly K., Chair, Wisconsin Consulting Foresters, Rosendale, Wis- consin .................................................................................................................... 124 Waller, Donald M., Professor of Botany and Environmental Studies, Univer- sity of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin ................................................ 126 Zemke, Elroy, President, and Jane Severt, Executive Director, Wisconsin County Forests Association, Tomahawk, Wisconsin ......................................... 134 The Nature Conservancy, Madison, Wisconsin ..................................................... 136 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:23 Jan 04, 2010 Jkt 041481 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 I:\DOCS\111-26\52846.TXT AGR1 PsN: BRIAN VerDate 0ct 09 2002 08:23 Jan 04, 2010 Jkt 041481 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 I:\DOCS\111-26\52846.TXT AGR1 PsN: BRIAN HEARING TO REVIEW FOREST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN MONDAY, July 20, 2009 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEPARTMENT OPERATIONS, OVERSIGHT, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY, COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE Appleton, WI The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 9:00 a.m., at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel, 333 W. College Avenue, Appleton, Wisconsin, Hon. Joe Baca [Chairman of the Subcommittee] pre- siding. Members present: Representatives Baca and Kagen. Staff present: Jamie W. Mitchell, Lisa Shelton, Brent Blevins. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOE BACA, A REPRESENTA- TIVE IN CONGRESS FROM CALIFORNIA WISCONSIN Mr. BACA. I would like to call the meeting to order at this time. This is a hearing of the Subcommittee on Department of Oper- ations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry to review the forest re- source management in northern Wisconsin. That’s why it will come to order at this point. I’ll begin with a little bit of an opening state- ment. I had an opportunity to talk to Matt a little bit, and besides being head of the cheese country and dairy country, forestry is very important in Wisconsin as well. I happen to hear you’ve got quite a few golf courses in the area as well. I wish I had a little bit more time. I would have loved to have gone to play. I know that Matt said that he played on Satur- day. But I’m pleased to be here with my good friend and colleague, Dr. Steve Kagen, to examine forest resource management here in Wisconsin. I appreciate his leadership and vision, and I state his genuine concern for the district and involvement in the Agriculture Committee as well. He has been very instrumental in assuring that we had the hearing here, and his persistence and ‘‘stick-to-ity’’ is to make sure that I did not fade away and not come to Appleton, Wisconsin. And there was a time that I was tempted to say maybe we should cancel the hearing, but he came back and said, look, I care about this area, forestry is an