LRB-4684/2
SRM:wlj:ch
2005 - 2006 LEGISLATURE
March 7, 2006 - Introduced by Senators Zien, Schultz, A. Lasee and Decker.
Referred to Committee on Senate Organization.
SR14,1,1 1Relating to: the lack of access to available timber, primarily on public lands.
SR14,1,32 Whereas, the lack of access to available timber on public lands is the premier
3problem facing Wisconsin's forest industry; and
SR14,1,54 Whereas, layoffs, mill closures, and temporary shutdowns are occurring on a
5regular basis across the state; and
SR14,1,96 Whereas, 20 percent of our logging contractors went out of business between
71997 and 2000; over 5,000 high paying jobs have been lost in the paper industry since
82000; and 15 medium-to-large sawmills have closed their doors in the last 5 years;
9and
SR14,1,1510 Whereas, the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest (CNNF) significantly
11reduced the amount of timber available for sale in the past 10 years, and last year
12the CNNF harvested less than half of the timber required to maintain forest health,
13which translates to reduced revenue to local communities from direct forest service
14payments and a significant reduction in raw material needed to sustain our forest
15industry; and
SR14,2,4
1Whereas, Wisconsin loses one job for every 100 acres of productive forest land
2that is excluded from sustainable forest management practices, and the CNNF has
3already excluded 446,000 acres of the forest from timber production, which equates
4to a permanent loss of 4,460 jobs; and
SR14,2,95 Whereas, Wisconsin's state forests are harvesting less than 30 percent of the
6timber required to maintain forest health, and state-owned forest lands purchased
7by the stewardship account are harvesting less than 5 percent of the timber required
8to maintain forest health, which is costing the state nearly $10 million in lost
9revenue; and
SR14,2,1210 Whereas, last year the state failed to harvest 350 million board feet on state and
11federally owned land which, if harvested, could sustain 17,500 new well-paying jobs
12in Wisconsin's forest industry; and
SR14,2,1413 Whereas, when both state and federal forests are not harvested at plan over
14$100 million in additional revenues are lost; and
SR14,2,1815 Whereas, on average an acre of Wisconsin forests grows enough biomass to
16provide energy equivalent to one barrel of crude oil every year, and federal lands that
17exclude timber management could produce at a minimum the biomass equivalent to
18200 million barrels of crude oil per year; now, therefore, be it
SR14,2,23 19Resolved by the senate, That the senate of the state of Wisconsin respectfully
20urges all members of Congress and the president of the United States to return the
21national forest management responsibilities to the Wisconsin counties containing
22these lands, excluding federally designated wilderness area, for the purpose of
23improving the stewardship of our forestlands and our economic base.
SR14,2,2424 (End)
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