December 10, 2020 11:00 a.m.
On Wednesday, the Trump Administration announced it has finalized categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act, which streamlines timber salvage projects and operations and the reviews of projects across the western United States designed to address the rapid spread of pinyon-juniper woodlands on sagebrush habitat.
A release from the Bureau of Land Management said these categorical exclusions will contribute to rural economies, reduce waste of salvageable timber, and reduce future wildfire fuel loads, while diminishing hazards to wildland firefighters, the public, and infrastructure from dead and dying trees.
Deputy Secretary Kate MacGregor said “Under the leadership of President Trump, the Department of the Interior has consistently set historical records for fuels treatments across the West”. MacGregor said after another difficult fire season, measures like this will help BLM to better protect human life and property by aggressively addressing dead and dying timber and pinyon-juniper encroachment.
County Commissioner Tim Freeman said a lot of the 130,000 acres in Douglas County that burned in September has dead or dying but salvageable timber still standing on it. Freeman said “The economic value disappears very rapidly due to insects and rot, so expediting NEPA work is essential”. Freeman thanked the Department of the Interior for finalizing a Categorical Exclusion that will allow the BLM to move more quickly.
Communities for Healthy Forests Executive Director Javier Goirigolzarri said, “The finalized categorical exclusion authority to expedite post fire salvage projects could not have come too soon”. Goirigolzarri said this authority will allow the BLM to take a triage approach by focusing salvage projects on the most critical areas to reduce future fire threats, and “…ensure the return of a healthy, vibrant, productive landscape within decades, not centuries”.
A release from the American Forest Resource Council applauded the action as well.
Complete details are in the BLM release which is posted: https://www.blm.gov/press-release/trump-administration-streamlines-review-salvage-timber-projects-and-pinyon-juniper