Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
We're working to fix a technical issue causing problems with our broadcasts. We'll have it resolved as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Draft Farm Bill Carves Out Bigger Exemptions For Logging Projects, Gianforte Says

Congressman Greg Gianforte addresses a Montana Association of Counties meeting in Missoula Tuesday, May 1, 2018.
Eric Whitney
/
Montana Public Radio

Congressman Greg Gianforte says some changes to public lands management he’s been pushing for have made it into the draft of the Farm Bill Congress is expected to take up in couple of weeks.

The Farm Bill helps direct the U.S. Forest Service, which is part of the Department of Agriculture.

Gianforte says the bill includes so-called categorical exclusions for certain kinds of projects.

That means they’re excluded from provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, which were put in place to protect the environment, but can also slow down permitting.

"We’ve added another provision for, under categorical exclusions, to remove hazardous trees, and also a categorical exclusion to develop recreational facilities on public land, Gianforte says.

Conservation groups have criticized a previous Farm Bill, passed in 2014, for allowing too many categorical exclusions, including one which allows some timber sales of up to 3,000 acres in size to go forward without Environmental Policy Act review. Gianforte says the new Farm Bill proposes doubling that exclusion to allow timber sales of up to 6,000 acres. 

Gianforte made the remarks at a Montana Association of Counties meeting in Missoula Tuesday, May 1, 2018.

Eric Whitney is NPR's Mountain West/Great Plains Bureau Chief, and was the former news director for Montana Public Radio.
Become a sustaining member for as low as $5/month
Make an annual or one-time donation to support MTPR
Pay an existing pledge or update your payment information
Related Content