CONSERVATION CORNER
Bush Forest Budget Needs More Emphasis on South
by James L. Cummins

In the Southeast, healthy forests comprise more than just forest management and fire prevention on public lands. Public forests comprise 42percent of our Nation's land mass and private forests comprise 58percent. Private forests provide 89 percent of our nation's timber harvest. The South alone provides 60 percent of the nation's timber.

And while our nation depends so heavily on these private forests for wood products, we are also depending on them to provide many other services that benefit society, such as homes for threatened and endangered species. We rarely think about how they can afford to provide this. And while this may be possible for some landowners,

many small and medium-sized ones find it impossible to provide this habitat. It is for these reasons that the Healthy Forests Restoration Act included the Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP).

Private lands provide habitat for 90 percent of our Nation's listed species. The South has the largest percentage of listed species in the nation. Eight of the top ten states with the most listings are in the South. There are many rare forest ecosystems that exist on private lands and they require financial incentives for their restoration. The states with the greatest forest ecosystem loss are basically the same as those with the most listed species.

In 1934, Aldo Leopold, the father of wildlife management, stated, "Conservation will ultimately boil down to rewarding the private landowner who conserves the public interest." The HFRP, when funded, it will provide incentives for such practices as tree planting, prescribed burning, removal of fish barriers, placement of fish screens and eradication of invasive species to name a few.

For Fiscal Years 2005 and 2006, it was suggested that $25 million be incorporated in the President's Budget for a pilot HFRP project. I and many other conservation organizations were very disappointed to learn that no funds were included for the HFRP in the President's Budget in either year, even though 47 conservation organizations and 10 U.S. Senators supported funding the program.

The Administration and the Congress should support at least a pilot program. They might consider one on private lands around military bases to assist in recovering species that impair training operations while also reducing base encroachment.

The type of approach that the HFRP offers, when funded, will help remove species of our nation from their respective list. It will also aid a species before it is listed, making it unnecessary to do so. This is the kind of proactive strategy that can head off regulatory crises, while improving the environment and providing opportunities for economic growth.

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. Their web site is www.wildlifemiss.org.