Building a Restoration Workforce
Neighbors working with neighbors……The Three Rivers Challenge Coalition has been working for several years now on a unique common ground agreement among timber interests, motorized and non motorized recreation enthusiasts, and wilderness advocates. Our proposal is a limited, completely contained and local place based proposal for a different way of doing business on one special project area in the Three Rivers District of the Kootenai National Forest. It’s not a world-changing proposal, but we are convinced it can and will change our community of Troy— as well as Lincoln County—for the better. We also believe our success can be a template for other small rural communities around the state, as each deals with land use issues and societal change and the economic challenges of the times. If peace and positive solutions can be achieved in Lincoln County, they can be attained anywhere. If we are successful in legislating the Three Rivers Challenge, a special cooperative stewardship project area will be created on the Three Rivers District. The US Forest Service maintains all decision-making authority in the special area, and all existing rules and regulations and NEPA requirements for land management apply. A special advisory council comprised of industry, recreation, and conservation interests will work with the USFS to aid in the location, design, and implementation of the landscape projects.
Our proposal isn’t just about recreation and wilderness – it’s about jobs: keeping the forest-related jobs we’ve got, creating opportunities and incentives for new jobs, and enhancing values of products already being yielded from the forest. Our proposal is about building a local restoration workforce that will be ready to implement the work generated in the special project area on the Three Rivers District. This will keep our local loggers in business and generate new jobs in restoration forestry as well as provide a predictable and sustainable flow of fiber from the area to help supply our last remaining mills. Two or more landscape scale restoration projects will be implemented in this area each year, totaling approximately 2500-3000 acres of vegetative management through commercial timber harvest, prescribed burning and other silvicultural techniques. We will be treating forests that are at high risk from insect epidemics or high severity wildfires as well as focusing on opportunities to reduce fire risk in the wildland/urban interface to protect communities. We will be improving forest health as well as maintaining and improving wildlife habitat. By using the stewardship contracting tools, we will be able to offset the value of goods such as timber for services, retain and reinvest the receipts from the project in the same or another landscape scale restoration project within the special project area, designate timber cutting by description or prescription, and enter into multi-year contracts for services exceeding five years – all of which translates into jobs-on-theground for our community.
In 2006, Governor Schweitzer convened a forum on building a restoration economy for Montana, out of which Restore Montana was created. The Restore Montana network includes business and industry, labor, state universities, government, sportsmen and conservation interests. The Governor, as well as many Montanans, recognizes that ecological integrity, healthy fish and wildlife populations, and abundant access to natural landscapes and public lands are significant contributors to our quality of life and economic growth. Restore Montana works to promote and strengthen a restoration economy that integrates the ecological, economic and social well-being of Montana's communities. The Restore Montana network believes that Montana is in a position to lead the West in developing a restoration economy that attracts investment and creates “green-collar” jobs with local employers while enhancing our land, water and communities. The Three Rivers Challenge offers such an opportunity for our small rural community. We can do it, one community at a time.
For more information about building a restoration workforce for the Three Rivers Challenge contact Robyn King, YVFC, 406-295-9736 or claymtn@hotmail.com
For more information about Governor Schweitzer’s Restoration Forum visit www.restorationforum.mt.gov