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Unidentified committee member criticizes Forest Service over timber shortfalls, cites $40 billion and local layoffs
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Summary
During a hearing before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, an unidentified committee member said the Forest Service has failed to meet forest-management and timber-harvest targets despite more than $40 billion in recent funding and cited sawmill layoffs tied to reduced timber sales.
An unidentified committee member told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that the Forest Service has not translated recent federal funding into expected on-the-ground results, saying, “Where have all these taxpayer dollars gone?” The remarks were addressed to Chief Moore during a committee hearing focused on forest health and wildfire risk.
The committee member said Wyoming’s eight national forests underpin local communities and economies but face growing threats from wildfire, drought and insect and disease outbreaks. The member cited long-term declines in timber-processing capacity, saying that in 1976 Wyoming sawmills could process “over 300,000,000 board feet each year” and that, according to Forest Service statistics, they can now process “just over a 100,000,000” board feet — “That’s a 2 thirds drop in our capacity.”
The member pressed the agency on budget results, noting that since 2021 “Congress has given the agency more than 40,000,000,000” and criticized the Forest Service for not increasing treated acres, timber sales or expedited environmental reviews. The member said the agency expects to treat fewer acres than last year and forecast timber-harvest levels to remain flat in fiscal year 2025, calling that outcome “completely unacceptable.”
The hearing highlighted local economic effects. The member cited Nymond Enterprises, a family-owned business in Hewlett, Wyoming, which announced layoffs that the speaker tied to the Forest Service’s decision to reduce timber harvest levels in the Black Hills National Forest. The member said the decision “upended the lives of 50 hardworking employees and their families” and warned that reducing active management could return forests to conditions that previously produced wildfire and beetle kill.
While expressing support for some budget priorities, including funding to protect communities from catastrophic fire and pay raises for wildland firefighters, the committee member called on the agency to outline how it will meet its management targets and deliver timber supplies dependable enough to sustain local sawmills. The member closed by saying the forest products sector is willing to assist in carrying out the work.
No formal vote or motion was recorded in the provided transcript segment; the exchange ended with the member thanking the chairman and Chief Moore.
