State of Wyoming Select Federal Natural Resources Management Interim Committee

USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain and Intermountain Regions Frank Beum, Regional Forester Jacque Buchanan, Deputy Regional Forester U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region May 26, 2021

Good morning, Chairman Boner (Brian), Chairman Burkhart (Donald) and Members of the Committee. I am Frank Beum, the new permanent Regional Forester for the Rocky Mountain Region of the USDA Forest Service. As you know, there are four National Forests in Wyoming that are part of the Rocky Mountain Region, including the Black Hills, Bighorn, Shoshone, and Medicine Bow National Forests, as well as the Thunder Basin National Grassland. Thank you for the invitation to come before the Wyoming Select Federal Natural Resource Management Committee today.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you. I started in my role as the Regional Forester in April of 2021. I am both honored and humbled to be back in the Rocky Mountain Region, having spent much of my early career in the Region, including here in Wyoming on both the Shoshone and Medicine Bow National Forests. In fact, both of my sons were born in Wyoming. I look forward to working with you in my new role in the coming years.

I understand that the Committee has requested remarks on the timber harvest program on the Black Hills National Forest and there are several updates we would like to share with you today. A healthy, sustainable Black Hills National Forest is essential to all who enjoy the area, whether for tribal culture, recreation, hunting, fishing, or jobs in the forest products industry. We are committed to the long-term sustainability of the Black Hills and will use the best available science to inform our decisions. We will fully consider a broad suite of data, gather stakeholder input, and consult with tribes before making final decisions on future timber program levels.

This will require a thoughtful and balanced approach to address environmental, social, and economic conditions in the area.

Sound forest stewardship will likely require adjustments in our timber program. Long-term forest sustainability will also require a viable timber industry to help maintain forest health and resilience while providing jobs in the rural economy. We are committed to working together with all concerned to find a path forward that ensures we have a healthy forest for all to enjoy its many benefits long into the future. I will now turn to Jacque Buchanan, Deputy Regional Forester for the Rocky Mountain Region of the U.S. Forest Service, for a more detailed discussion.

Jacque Buchanan: Today, I would like to provide an update on the status of the Black Hills National Forest Timber Harvest program. Much of the information I will present today was shared with the Committee in testimony provided by Acting Regional Forester Tricia O’Connor in November 2020, and in a follow up letter addressed to the Committee in December 2020. At that time, the Committee was interested in understanding more about the current and future timber program levels on the Forest and why there are differences in opinion about sustainable harvest levels.

The Black Hills National Forest is working toward accomplishing their 175,000 CCF timber target in FY21 with the help of resources from units across the Agency due to critical staffing limitations on the Forest. Over the last 11 years (2010 to 2020) the Forest has sold nearly 2 million CCF of sawtimber. As with other forests in the Region, the Black Hills did not meet assigned targets in 2020 – 197,000 CCF was assigned and 125,000 CCF was accomplished. Last year’s target was not reached due to various factors, including impacts from COVID-19, weather, staff vacancies, and funding challenges.

We have a strong commitment to a sustainable timber program on the Forest. The Region has a vested interest in supporting local economies, including a viable timber industry. However, the current levels of harvest that we have seen over the past decade on the Black Hills would be

2 difficult to sustain. The Black Hills National Forest of today is not the same as it was 5, 10 or even 15 years ago. The Forest has experienced changed landscape conditions as the result of a destructive mountain pine beetle epidemic, large wildfires, and other weather events over the last 20 years. These events, accompanied by timber harvests over the last 15 years, have resulted in a more open, low-density forest.

In March, the Rocky Mountain Research Station published a General Technical Report (GTR) that outlines 60 harvest scenarios using a range of volume mortality rates, volume gross growth rates, and four harvest levels. The GTR identified 23 of the 60 scenarios that could be considered a sustainable rate of harvest, ranging from 72,400 CCF and 126,700 CCF.

We will ensure the long-term sustainability of the timber resource by using the best available environmental, social, and economic science and data to inform both the short and long-term timber program. This will include the recently published GTR, current forest plan direction, the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data, and the October 2020 National Forest Advisory Board recommendation. The goal will be to manage for a long-term sustainable timber program considering the social and economic implications to the local community.

I believe that the best opportunity to address the changed conditions on the Forest and determine the appropriate long-term annual harvest levels will come through a Forest Plan Revision process. The current Black Hills National Forest Plan was published in 1997 and amended in 2005 and 2008. The Forest plans to Publish a Notice of Intent to initiate Forest Plan Revision this year. The Black Hills is pursuing a forest plan revision with an open and transparent process which will likely take 3-4 years to complete.

At the November meeting, the Committee also asked the Region to think about other potential solutions to address the Forest timber supply. One consideration that would be helpful is a review of other potential timber sources from non-federal lands to understand if opportunities haven’t been explored to support both short-term and long-term industry needs. Increased

3 forest management and timber harvest on non-federal lands, including state, county, and local government, private, and other non-federal public ownerships could help supplement or offset any decrease of forest timber program outputs. Additionally, there may be potential volume on neighboring National Forests that lie within the working circle of the Black Hills. This volume could also help offset any reductions in the Black Hills National Forest program.

There is need for timber stand improvement work on an estimated 160,000 acres on the Black Hills National Forest. This work is vital to increasing growth rates to provide for a future sawtimber program. Developing markets or offsets for this work would benefit the Forest, industry, and local economies. Forest Service State and Private Forestry programs including Wood Innovations and Community Wood Energy Grants could assist in retrofitting existing or developing new infrastructure in the Black Hills to address small diameter material. There are USDA grant opportunities that could also be an option.

These are challenging times, and we are fortunate to have strong partnerships and working relationships in the State of Wyoming. Now more than ever, our ability to work across boundaries with states and leverage partnerships will help to increase our capacity to deliver priority work. The Shared Stewardship Agreement between the Secretary of Agriculture and the State of Wyoming in August of 2020 establishes a great foundation for working together across boundaries and we have examples of this work already occurring, such as Good Neighbor Authority projects. Together, we can steward the whole, rather than focusing on unit by unit efforts and work smarter to find efficiencies in sharing resources across units to do priority work.

The National Forests in Wyoming provide many benefits to the people of this country and to this state. We recognize the importance of the timber industry and the products that come from National Forest System lands in the State of Wyoming. There will continue to be much work to be done and difficult decisions to make as we work together to increase the pace and scale of forest management activities that result in healthy, diverse and more resilient forests.

Chairmen and Committee Members, this concludes our prepared remarks and we look forward to a continued, positive and productive working relationship with the state of Wyoming. We welcome questions from you and your Committee at this time.