MINUTES
Bemidji Area Forestry Affairs Council
9:00 A.M., Friday, September 11, 2009
Beltrami Electric Community Room
MEMBERS PRESENT: Jim Haffner, Larry Dubbe, Terry Matson, Dave Goetz, Pete Aube, Larry Young, Greg Snyder, Jack Wallingford (Chair), Jim Steenerson, Randy Frisk, Bud Stone, Bob Brittain, Bruce Meade, Don Rees, Sharon Josephson, Greg Nelson, Mark Jensen, Mike Sneider and Beth Balmer
GUEST: Erika Rowe, DNR
I. Welcome and Introductions: Chair, Jack Wallingford welcomed the Council back from the summer break.
Larry Young read the Sherman Anti Trust Statement into the record.
II. Old Business
A. Review of Goals for 08-09: Goals from the past year were passed around for the Council’s review. At the next meeting, these will be reviewed fully and it will be decided which ones can be crossed off the list of new goals and which ones we will continue to work on.
B. Other: There was no further old business.
III. New Business
A. Presentation Erika Rowe, DNR County Biological Survey: Erika a plant ecologist and botanist, gave a PowerPoint presentation to the BAFAC. She explained that the county biological survey program started in 1987 and is funded by Minnesota state lottery proceeds. This survey is actually data collection and cataloging rare or native plants, rare or endangered animals and review of soil data i.e. disturbed or undisturbed and is rated by scale. The information will be posted on the DNR website, DNR Data Deli.
During Erika’s presentation several members had questions and concerns about all of the restrictions that were being placed upon different timber sites not only in Beltrami County but throughout Minnesota. It was noted that there were several agencies within the DNR that may place different restrictions on a certain site. With each restrictions imposed, the timber harvest sites become smaller and older.
It was noted that just about all the areas in Beltrami County have been logged one time or another. If there are rare species in any of these areas it’s important to look at the history of the area to find how it was logged, what happened there to have the rare species there and what we can do to replicate that in the future.
B. Resource Position on HRDC Board: Larry Young called attention to a letter by Cliff Tweedale from the HRDC requesting a representative from the natural resource community to fill a spot on their Board of Directors. He asked that anybody interested to let him know and he will forward the recommendation to Cliff. This is a position that does reimburse for travel expenses and per diem of $40 per meeting.
C. Bud Stone .. . National vs. Minnesota Cap and Trade Legislation: Bud Stone and Sharon Josephson discussed the “Cap and Trade” legislation which is actually called the Climate Change Bill. Representative Henry Waxman (D-Ca) and Ed Markey (D-Ma) co-authored this bill. In a nutshell this bill would create a government trading system which lesser polluters could trade permits to heavier users or heavier polluters.
Representative Collin Peterson (D-Mn) proposed 19 changes to this bill. At the present time this bill is stalled as the discussion of health care reform is on the front burner for congress. It was suggested that maybe the BAFAC could have meeting devoted just getting information on the Climate Change Bill.
D. DNR Proposed Forest Management Plan: North Four (SFRMP): Jack Wallingford spoke to this issue. It was first noted that for every cord of wood cut there is a $40 injection into the economy. Of the 1.17 million acres in this planning area, 712,000 acres are suited for timber management. Some key issues that need to be addressed are:
*The plan proposed to offer approximately 183,000 cords annually for harvest which is a reduction in volume offered and are significantly lower than MFI modeled estimates. MFI’s model in this subsection is 305,000 cords per year.
*The GEIS and DNR guidelines suggest that a level of 20-25 percent prescribed ERF (extended rotation forestry). The North Four plan prescribes 52 percent. Also, the ERF for aspen is 50-60 years. The DNR has prescribed aspen ERF as high as 85 years.
*The proposed plan would return a net prevent value (NPV) of $35.1 million. A NPV of $58.7 is attainable if the further constraints are removed.
*Within the planning area, 85 percent of the timberlands are Permanent School Fund Trust Lands (PSF). The DNR has a responsibility to maximize the revenue from these lands while maintaining the integrity of the forest resources.
The comment period for this plan is September 24, 2009. Comments should be submitted to Lyn Mizner, Minnesota DNR Div. of Forestry, 1200 Minnesota Ave S Aitkin MN 56431
*Information on this plan was supplied by Minnesota Forest Industries.
IV. What’s New in the Woods Roundtable: Some topics brought up at the roundtable were:
*Cass County is in the middle of revising their forest plan. They continue to have auctions once a month.
*Even with the unallotment from the state, the DNR-forestry has managed to keep their staff at current levels. 956,000 cords were sold last year which was an all time record. They are shooting for 800,000 cords this coming year.
*In Beltrami County’s August auction, all offerings were sold.
*Given the economy, Cass Forest Products has had to make a few adjustments in how they are doing business but they haven’t lost any employees and have actually picked up a few.
*Norbord operated all year, had a tough year, a better summer and expect the same in the coming year. Supply has been in sync with demand.
*The Northwest Tech Forestry Program has 25 new students this year.
*The Chippewa National Forest is finishing up their fiscal year which found them meeting and exceeding their harvest targets for the year. They will be having two pine sales in October.
*With the Enbridge project (Alberta Clipper pipeline) there will also be some pine cut to help facilitate that project.
*Several loggers have gone to work for the pipeline. Hopefully this is just temporary employment and they will return to logging when the project is complete.
V. Next Meeting Date: Friday, October 9, 2009, 9:00 A.M.
VI. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 11:35 A.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
Beth Balmer
JEDC
