Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. Gosar for offering this commonsense amendment.

Good Neighbor Authority was one of the hard-fought achievements in the 2014 farm bill that has proven useful in improving our national forests and our rural communities. I was pleased to expand the Good Neighbor Authority to Indian Tribes in the base text of this bill, and I am happy that my colleague continues to improve the forestry title with this amendment authorizing counties to be eligible.

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Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank Mr. Gianforte for offering this important amendment for Montana and, quite frankly, for our National Forest System as a whole.

Over the past several years, fires have had a devastating impact on our forest system lands, resulting in deteriorated landscapes. I have witnessed this firsthand across the country as the former chairman of the Committee on Agriculture's Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry.

It is vital that the Forest Service has the right tools, the ability to restore these landscapes as quickly as possible to preserve habitat, clean air, and the significant impact that these incidents can have on clean water.

Unfortunately, litigation stalls many of these projects. As Madison County, Montana, Commissioner Dave Schulz noted before the House Natural Resources Federal Lands Subcommittee in May of 2015, due to the threat of litigation from outside groups refusing to meet or collaborate with the community, what started out as a consensus proposal for 100,000 acres of fire salvage and reforestation was reduced to less than 2,000 acres of salvage. ``Fear of litigation prevents the Forest Service from thinking big.''

In another quote, he offered, a ``significant factor in preventing responsible management of our Nation's forests.''

Mr. Chair, I certainly support this amendment. It has already passed the House. I urge my colleagues to do the same.

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