Federal Funding Secured for Forests

The federal government will appropriate $850,000 to the Hiawatha, Ottawa, and Huron/Manistee national forests to help process timber sales, according to Congressman Bart Stupak. The Hiawatha will receive $350,000 of the appropriation, while the Ottawa will get $200,000 and the Hruon/Manistee National Forest will receive $300,000.

The funding will allow the forests to "continue to serve as a source for Michigan's timber industry," Congressman Stupak said. "Michigan has the fifth-largest timber industry in the nation, so forestry and timber are vital to the Michigan economy."

He has opposed plans to divert funding from the Eastern Forest Service Region to the Pacific Northwest Region.

The U.S. Forest Service was able to divert the funding from Michigan to the northwest because Congress did not pass an Interior Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2007. Mr. Stupak said the reduction should be a one-time occurrence and added that funding should be restored once Congress passes an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008. In the meantime, several forests, including the Ottawa, Hiawatha, and Huron/ Manistee, had been forced to reduce the amount of timber that would be available this year.

The $850,000 will not completely replace the federal government's 2007 funding cuts, but it will help local forest service divisions through the next several months, he said.