As temperatures warm up wildfires are on the minds of many Montanans, and Senator Steve Daines is one of them. Daines is calling for legislation today to remove red tape around forest management that he says could prevent wildfires.
The red tape is what Senator Steve Daines calls “destructive litigation” from extreme environmental groups. Daines says that litigation keeps logging companies from removing already dead trees from our national forest, which fuel wildfires during the summer.
Senator Daines says there are roughly 5 million acres of dead or dying timbers in Montana alone, and if it is not harvested it adds more fuel to what is expected to be another busy fire season.
“To date they have harvested I think about 6,100 acres which is .1 percent. That’s what’s unacceptable,” said Senator Steve Daines.
While Daines says more logging can help decrease forest fires, environmental advocates say logging only hurts the land and ruins habitat for fish and other wildlife. For them, the gain of fire prevention does not outweigh the harm to the environment.