Yes, there’s still plenty of heavy lifting to do in the 2010 Legislature. There’s cumbersome iron to pump in these parts, for sure. The worldwide financial, uh, poop took years to really hit the fan, after all.
But at least one big economic-development task is about to be wiped clean from the must-do chalkboard. A key timber bill prime-sponsored by Rep. Dean Takko navigated the state-capital obstacle course sans a single opposing vote. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate unanimously passed Takko’s House Bill 2541 in this year’s regular session – and the governor is poised to sign it. Takko pointed out that his prime-sponsored legislation directs the state Department of Natural Resources to write landowner-conservation plans that support forest landowners. These proposals must be submitted by Dec. 31, 2011.
The bill will provide the kind of conservation incentives needed for defending timber jobs, public resources, and private, working forestland. Takko said the prime directive of the legislation is to fashion a collaborative approach that balances job-protection with protection for the environment.
“Our state has lost 16 pulp mills just in the past five years,” said the Longview Democrat, who represents southwestern Washington’s 19th Legislative District. “We’ve seen thousands of workers thrown out of a job. We need to help private foresters maintain land and continue to move wood products. This bill looks both to keep the timber industry economically viable and to explore opportunities for protecting the environment.”
Rep. Lynn Kessler, who joined Takko in co-sponsoring the bill, observed that many rural communities rely upon a healthy forest-products industry. Timber dollars support small businesses; they support local schools,” Kessler said. “When the industry is stable, these communities thrive.”
Mark Doumit, Executive Director of the Washington Forest Protection Association, said that “we greatly appreciate Representative Takko’s leadership on this legislation. He and other legislators recognize that in order for working forests to continue to protect our environment and provide tens of thousands of jobs in our state, we need to focus on ways to make owning forestland economically viable. The alternative is conversion and permanent loss of those lands.”
The forest-products industry is Washington's second largest manufacturing sector, providing nearly 45,000 direct jobs and almost 100,000 indirect jobs. The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers also supported the bill in committee testimony.
Takko’s bill recognizes the importance of emerging ecosystem services markets and places emphasis on accessing capital to finance ecosystem services. The legislation also requires the Department of Natural Resources to develop a report on conservation incentives to protect, restore and maintain the ecological values that the public enjoys. We’re talking specifically about recreation, clean water, renewable energy, carbon storage and habitat for fish and wildlife.
But at least one big economic-development task is about to be wiped clean from the must-do chalkboard. A key timber bill prime-sponsored by Rep. Dean Takko navigated the state-capital obstacle course sans a single opposing vote. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate unanimously passed Takko’s House Bill 2541 in this year’s regular session – and the governor is poised to sign it. Takko pointed out that his prime-sponsored legislation directs the state Department of Natural Resources to write landowner-conservation plans that support forest landowners. These proposals must be submitted by Dec. 31, 2011.
The bill will provide the kind of conservation incentives needed for defending timber jobs, public resources, and private, working forestland. Takko said the prime directive of the legislation is to fashion a collaborative approach that balances job-protection with protection for the environment.
“Our state has lost 16 pulp mills just in the past five years,” said the Longview Democrat, who represents southwestern Washington’s 19th Legislative District. “We’ve seen thousands of workers thrown out of a job. We need to help private foresters maintain land and continue to move wood products. This bill looks both to keep the timber industry economically viable and to explore opportunities for protecting the environment.”
Rep. Lynn Kessler, who joined Takko in co-sponsoring the bill, observed that many rural communities rely upon a healthy forest-products industry. Timber dollars support small businesses; they support local schools,” Kessler said. “When the industry is stable, these communities thrive.”
Mark Doumit, Executive Director of the Washington Forest Protection Association, said that “we greatly appreciate Representative Takko’s leadership on this legislation. He and other legislators recognize that in order for working forests to continue to protect our environment and provide tens of thousands of jobs in our state, we need to focus on ways to make owning forestland economically viable. The alternative is conversion and permanent loss of those lands.”
The forest-products industry is Washington's second largest manufacturing sector, providing nearly 45,000 direct jobs and almost 100,000 indirect jobs. The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers also supported the bill in committee testimony.
Takko’s bill recognizes the importance of emerging ecosystem services markets and places emphasis on accessing capital to finance ecosystem services. The legislation also requires the Department of Natural Resources to develop a report on conservation incentives to protect, restore and maintain the ecological values that the public enjoys. We’re talking specifically about recreation, clean water, renewable energy, carbon storage and habitat for fish and wildlife.
