June 17, 2009
******FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE******
GOVERNOR: WYOMING FORESTS IN DIRE NEED OF STIMULUS FUNDS
CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Wyoming has been left out in the cold by the U.S. Forest Service as that agency allocated federal economic stimulus dollars to western states for wildland fire mitigation projects, Gov. Dave Freudenthal said today in a sharply worded letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
The Governor criticized the agency for allocating millions in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 based on inaccurate data and a model that he said the Forest Service is unwilling to disclose to the states.
“I have had the opportunity to review the list of projects that were selected to get wildland fire funding and this list paints an interesting but somewhat disturbing picture regarding Forest Service priorities,” he said, “even when glossed with a thick shellac of rhetoric tied to unemployment numbers and other ‘economic stimulus’ veneers.”
Wyoming’s forests are suffering from the same pine beetle epidemic that has swept across the West. The Governor noted that other states like Colorado have already received millions in supplemental appropriations to address the impacts of beetle killed timber.
“Forgive my pessimism, but I have my doubts that most in Washington can even find Wyoming on a map, no less understand the tremendous resource issues we face,” he wrote.
The Governor requested that Wyoming be awarded:
o $6.5 million for wildland fire mitigation and biomass development on state and private lands.
o $20 million for capital construction and fuels mitigation projects in Wyoming’s national forests. (Of that $20 million, he requested $7.7 million to fund a collaborative watershed-based beetle mitigation and habitat enhancement project on the Medicine Bow National Forest. He asked that the remaining $12.3 million be used to fund projects that were initially submitted to regional offices.)
The text of the Governor’s letter follows.
June 17, 2009
The Honorable Thomas Vilsack
Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20250
Dear Secretary Vilsack:
I recently submitted a letter to you voicing my disappointment over Wyoming’s exclusion from U.S. Forest Service federal economic stimulus funding that was allocated to state and private wildland fire mitigation projects. Since sending that initial letter, I have had the opportunity to review the list of projects that were selected to get wildland fire funding and this list paints an interesting but somewhat disturbing picture regarding Forest Service priorities - even when glossed with a thick shellac of rhetoric tied to unemployment numbers and other “economic stimulus” veneers. But if nothing else, the Forest Service is consistent, and I recently learned that Wyoming will not be receiving any Forest Service stimulus funding related to either capital construction projects on forest system lands or biomass and wood energy projects. Frankly, my disappointment and bemusement with an overly contrived scheme to somehow demonstrate a link between Forest Service stimulus funding and national economic recovery has now turned to indignation.
Wyoming’s seven national forests make up 5 percent of the nation’s total national forest system lands. Taking that percentage into consideration against the fact that the Forest Service has received $1.15 billion in ARRA funding, Wyoming would be equitably entitled to receive $57 million if allocation were based strictly on the size of the resource managed. Instead, to date, the Forest Service has allocated over $635 million of stimulus funds based on a funding model that the agency is unwilling to disclose, and none of these dollars will come to Wyoming.
I am especially disconcerted by the fact that while Wyoming has not received a single dollar in Forest Service stimulus allocations, our neighboring states have combined received about $170 million to address resource issues, which are remarkably similar to those that exist in Wyoming. The only difference, it seems, is that Wyoming’s economic predicament is not quite as dire - at least not as of November 2008. But even amplifying economic considerations one-hundredfold, I cannot get to a conclusion that says Wyoming gets absolutely nothing, absent some more arbitrary and capricious reasoning and criteria. Especially considering the fact that other agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service have allocated significant stimulus funds to Wyoming armed with the same economic information that the Forest Service possesses.
As I have previously related, the current bark beetle epidemic does not stop at the state line, nor do other resource concerns and needs. According to aerial surveys, Wyoming has more than 790,000 acres of beetle infested trees, which by anyone’s account is a serious issue worthy of serious consideration by the Forest Service - recession or no recession. Had the recent denial of stimulus funds for Wyoming been our first experience with inequity, it would have been one thing. But given the fact that over the last several years Colorado has received over $30 million in supplemental appropriations to address the impacts associated with pine beetles - and appropriately so given the extent of the beetle damage in that state - while Wyoming has received very little, I am more than a little upset. Certainly I understand the political mechanisms in play with regard to federal appropriations decisions, but one would think that Colorado’s already robust allocations would lead the Forest Service to direct stimulus dollars elsewhere. Apparently Nero will continue to fiddle, at least when his gaze is diverted to Wyoming.
As suggested earlier, it is my understanding that the Forest Service based its allocation decision on a one-time snapshot of state economic distress as of November of 2008. Drawing a line in the sand at 2008 puts Wyoming in tall cotton, but cotton that has since been cut, baled and sent to market. The economic situation in Wyoming has changed significantly since 2008. Unemployment in Wyoming is up, the energy industry in the state has downsized and the recession has found us. Unfortunately, the clock has tolled, the label is printed and the Forest Service blinders are firmly affixed to only allow a view to the problems that exist elsewhere. I can only hope that the Forest Service will be so ruthless if Wyoming ever lags behind the national trend economically. Forgive my pessimism, but I have my doubts that most in Washington can even find Wyoming on a map, no less understand the tremendous resource issues we face.
With the most recent release of $57 million in funds for biomass and wood to energy projects, it appears that $514.6 million of Forest Service ARRA funds remain unallocated. From these remaining funds, given our current tally of $0.00 in stimulus funding and assuming that the recession-based formula can be met with some understanding of resource need, I hereby request that Wyoming be awarded its original request of $6.5 million for wildland fire mitigation and biomass development on state and private lands. I also ask that Wyoming national forests be given $20 million for capital construction and fuels mitigation projects. Out of the $20 million, we are specifically requesting $7.7 million to fund a collaborative watershed-based beetle mitigation and habitat enhancement stewardship project on the Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming. This project is a collaborative effort between the Medicine Bow National Forest and several state agencies including the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Wyoming State Forestry Division. Because we have been denied access to the list of projects that were submitted by national forests in Wyoming, we are unable to identify other specific projects that are in need of funding. Therefore, we request that the remaining $12.3 million be used to fund projects that were initially submitted to the regional offices.
I certainly understand that economic recovery is of paramount consideration and that the stimulus effort is a complicated and detailed process, but I find it hard to excuse the giant square-shaped hole that currently exists on the map of Forest Service allocation decisions to date. Given the poor condition of national forests in my state, whether as a function of the stimulus or otherwise, the Forest Service must meet its obligations to appropriately manage its lands in Wyoming. I look forward to helping the agency live up to its responsibilities.
Best regards,
Dave Freudenthal
Governor
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