A proposal for the federal government to assume oversight duties related to forest sustainability has been canceled by the Baldacci administration, which deems the program too valuable to not be done in-state.
Eliminating the Department of Conservation’s Forest Inventory and Analysis Program was included in a budget reduction package proposed by Gov. Baldacci last month as a means of saving about $98,000 between now and June 30. This measure, which was part of a plan to reduce spending by $140 million in the current fiscal year, would have left the completion of forest inventories to the United States Forest Service, which conducted the inventories until the state took over several years ago.
Forest industry experts and advocates testified against the measure during hearings on the budget proposal Jan. 7, warning that the federal forest service lacks the resources to conduct the inventories in a timely manner. Any delay in this reporting is dangerous, they said, because demand for Maine timber is growing in several areas, including energy production.
Patrick Strauch, executive director of the Maine Forest Products Council, told members of the Legislature that the U.S. Forest Service, at times, fell as many as six years behind in updating inventory data.
Ryan Low, commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, told the Joint Select Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs Friday that Baldacci had decided to spare the inventory program because of its considerable merits. Canceling this cut will save five full-time and eight seasonal positions, some of which are partially funded with federal dollars.
Low said after that meeting that this proposal was one of the last to be put in the supplemental budget proposal and that Baldacci decided to pull it prior to last Wednesday’s hearing. Low said he didn’t announce the change at Wednesday’s hearing because people had already traveled to Augusta from throughout Maine to advocate for the program. That testimony was valuable regardless of the fate of the program, Low said.
James Cote, spokesman for the Maine Forest Products Council, said Monday that his organization was pleased with the decision.
“We’re very supportive, but we’re going to continue to watch that account and make sure we’re protecting those positions,” he said. “We’ll watch what happens in the biennial budget.”
(State House News Service)
