Today, House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (MN-02) delivered the following opening statement at a Forestry and Horticulture Subcommittee hearing titled “Promoting Forest Health and Resiliency Through Improved Active Management.” Watch the full hearing here.

[As prepared for delivery.]

Thank you to my colleagues for organizing this hearing and to our witnesses for taking time out of your busy schedules to be here today. I am pleased to see this Committee engage more on forestry issues, and specifically the current conversation about the future of the U.S. Forest Service.

I cannot overstate my concern over the hollowing out of the Forest Service in recent months. We have lost countless dedicated public servants, many of whom held wildfire certifications, served on the line during fire season and played essential support roles for the Agency’s core functions. In total, the Agency has lost more than 5,000 employees, amounting to nearly 15 percent of the total workforce. I hope our witnesses will speak to the effect this downsizing is having or may have on the Forest Service’s ability to fulfill its critical mission.

Many of this administration’s policies regarding the Forest Service are deeply concerning. They have recklessly proposed slashing federal funding for state, tribal and private forestry programs that provide critical technical and financial assistance to forest landowners and land managers helping to conserve our nation’s forests and protect vulnerable communities from wildfire. I know we have witnesses here today that can share with us the importance of these farm bill-authorized programs.

The president’s budget request also included the total elimination of funding for all but one of the Forest Service’s research and development programs. The world class scientists at Forest Service research stations throughout this country work every day to develop early warning technology that keeps our communities and firefighters on the front line safe. They analyze data to identify where we are most vulnerable to fire, landslides or insect and disease outbreaks and test responses so that we can protect our communities with evidence-based management practices. My Republican colleagues on this subcommittee cannot ignore the risks this administration is taking here in managing these critical issues.

Proposals to move wildfire activity out of the Forest Service, especially during an active fire season, are ill-informed and threaten the Agency's comprehensive approach to forest management.

Additionally, the administration’s announcement to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule puts our forests at greater risk of wildfire, watershed degradation and wildlife habitat loss. There are more high-priority acres that need management to reduce these risks than we currently have capacity to treat. We should target these rather than reopening a decades old political fight that is sure to result in litigation. I share this administration’s goal to increase active management on federal lands. And I agree that more boardfeet need to come off our National Forests to reduce the risk of megafires, which has the added benefit of supporting the wood products industry. But do we even have the staff capacity to accomplish our timber goals? And if we eliminate Forest Service R&D, will the wood products industry end up suffering more than it benefits from changes to federal policy?

Most recently, the USDA’s half-baked reorganization plan promises to consolidate forestry research scientists and jeopardizes the work they’re doing with universities and other partners throughout the country. Simply put, all these decisions undermine the Forest Service’s statutory requirement to manage our nation's forests to meet the needs of present and future generations.

A five-year farm bill represents a serious opportunity in front of this Committee to not only address the common-sense issues that everyone agrees need to be made, but also the challenges and concerns which undermine the Forest Service’s mission and threaten forests across the country. Only if a farm bill process is truly and meaningfully bipartisan and devoid of poison pills will we be able to provide stability to the Forest Service, clarify Congressional intent on the Agency’s operations and challenge some of the administration’s most rash decisions. I look forward to working with my colleagues, our witnesses and the broader forestry community on the way forward.

Thank you and I yield back.