#MTGov Daily Rundown: Bullock's Bad Record on Timber

Governor Bullock yesterday announced new forest management initiatives as Chair of the Western Governors Association. Unfortunately for the Montana timber industry, Governor Bullock has waited nearly 4 years to take meaningful action on this issue, and it's "too little, too late" for many Montana timber industry workers. The plans also do nothing to address the issue of frivolous lawsuits that consistently derail management projects.

Under Governor Bullock, Montana has lost nearly 700 jobs in the timber industry in the last year alone– leaving the industry reeling.

• The June 22 announcement that timber giant Weyerhaeuser Company was closing two mills in Columbia Falls and eliminating 100 positions is a gruesome testament to the flagging timber industry’s struggle to regain footing in the market after decades of decline. –Flathead Beacon, 06/28/2016
• In addition to the mill closures, Weyerhaeuser said it will close its administration office complex in Columbia Falls by the end of the year, eliminating roughly another 100 jobs in addition to the 100 lost mill jobs. -Daily Inter Lake 6/22/2016
• Approximately 500 jobs supported by Montana’s wood products industry have dried up this year alone –Missoulian, 10/13/2015
• Altogether, Altemus said timber mills employ approximately 7,000 people in Montana, and 235 mill workers have been laid off this year. Another 280 jobs that were indirectly supported by the timber industry have also been lost. –Missoulian, 10/13/2015
• In September, Tricon Timber in St. Regis – which had been Mineral County’s largest employer – cut an entire shift and laid off 90 workers as a direct result of the impending expiration of the agreement. –Missoulian, 10/13/2015
• Overall Montana has experienced a net loss of 2700 logging and mining jobs during Bullock's tenure, from 9,700 in December of 2012 to 7,000 in June of 2016 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The biggest issue cited by most timber industry officials is a lack of supply of logs.

“I am sitting here facing the exact same decisions [as Weyerhaeuser],” [Chuck] Roady said [of FH Stoltze Company]. “We haven’t run at full-throttle since last year, and these mills are not designed to run at half-throttle. It’s just not efficient, but we don’t have the logs. And what’s most frustrating is that we are surrounded by trees. They are everywhere.” -Flathead Beacon 6/28/2016

Greg Gianforte is calling for better forest management to strengthen the health of our forests and revitalize Montana’s timber industry. Gianforte continues to press Governor Bullock for failing to work on comprehensive forest management bills supported by Senator Daines and Congressman Zinke.

"Over 600 timber jobs have now been lost under Bullock’s recent watch. Instead of simply blaming the Obama Administration, Gianforte continues to ask why the governor has failed to utilize existing authority or support land management reforms supported by Congressman Ryan Zinke and Senator Steve Daines." –KMMS, 06/28/2016

Responding to pressure from Greg Gianforte, Governor Steve Bullock finally, after 2 years of inaction, signed a "Good Neighbor Agreement" with the U.S. Forest Service to allow for more state managed timber projects on federal lands. However, of the projects that the governor listed to be carried out under this authority, Bullock still couldn't say whether any had been finalized or would actually result in timber being cut.

"The administration released a list of 13 projects it said will be carried out under authority of the Farm Bill, totaling 62 million board feet of timber.

However, the administration couldn’t say Monday how many of those projects have been made final or resulted in trees actually being logged." -MTN News, 7/18/2017

Back in October, Gianforte also called on Governor Bullock to release the full $5 million of hazardous fuel reduction funds to stimulate more timber projects. Bullock has, so far, not released the full amount.

“I think there is more we can do to help the timber industry,” Gianforte said. “In particular, our legislature took the effort of creating a Hazardous Fuel Reduction Fund, it’s five million dollars over each biennium. I called last year for the Governor to release that money so we can start managing our forests and getting some timber coming into our mills, he has not released the full amount, I think we need to do this.” –Greg Gianforte on KGVO, 06/29/2016

Having an opponent has suddenly spurred Bullock to action. As Greg Gianforte has said: "“It’s unfortunate the governor needs an opponent to actually get him to do his job.” -Daily Inter Lake, 7/18/2016