December 1, 2003

Cochran Moves Healthy Forests Legislation Through Congress
by James L. Cummins

On November 20, 2003, the Healthy Forests Restoration Act passed both the House and Senate of the United States Congress. Senator Thad Cochran and Congressmen Roger Wicker, Bennie Thompson and Chip Pickering were co-sponsors of the bill. Congressman Thompson was the first Democrat in the Nation to become a co-sponsor of the bill.

The Act, which was introduced based on President Bush's Healthy Forests Initiative, is a comprehensive attempt to improve forest health. It would empower public land managers with tools to implement scientifically-based management practices, while establishing new conservation programs on private lands.

The Healthy Forests Restoration Act's premise is simple and clear. Given the massive scale of the threat that catastrophic wildfire, disease and insect infestation pose to the health of pristine forest ecosystems, threatened and endangered species, air quality, water quality and the safety of thousands of communities, it streamlines the process for forest thinning and fuel reduction projects without shortcutting the public participation process.

My favorite title of the bill is the Healthy Forests Reserve Program. It is a conservation initiative that would restore one-million acres of rare forest ecosystems that are critical to, amongst other things, recovering threatened/endangered species. The longleaf pine ecosystem in South Mississippi will be a major beneficiary.

The bill will develop an incentive-based program encouraging the utilization of small diameter trees, salvage harvests and thinnings. This will decrease the oversupply of pulp on the market, which is significantly contributing to low market prices.

It will also increase research on losses caused by the southern pine beetle in the Southern United States. The bill will establish a program that uses satellite technology to monitor forest stands, with a special emphasis on hardwood forest types.

This bill would not have passed if it was not for the leadership, hard work and dedication of Senator Thad Cochran. Someone once said, "A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. In the end, leaders are much like eagles...they don't flock, you find them one at a time." If that definition of leader was in Webster's Dictionary, Senator Cochran's picture would be beside it.

Assisting Senator Cochran in moving the legislation to the President's desk were Hunt Shipman, Lance Kotschwar and West Higginbothom. Theodore Roosevelt once said, "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it." These gentleman did a superb job and we are fortunate to have them serving this great nation. They are to be commended.

James L. Cummins is Executive Director of the Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation in Stoneville, Mississippi. Known as "Wildlife Mississippi," the Foundation is a non-profit, conservation organization founded to conserve, restore and enhance fish, wildlife and plant resources throughout Mississippi