Neal Dunn: “I rise in support of H.R. 7 and I call for its swift adoption by the House. I think this is a piece of legislation that…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 7 and I call for its swift adoption by the House. I think this is a piece of legislation that shows that all of us care and we are delighted to have it before the body today. I do want to respond to a mistaken and outdated characterization that came up in previous comments about one of the provisions on forestry bonds in this piece of legislation. This is a provision that was passed by this House last March. Forestry bonds as included in H.R. 7 are a new and collaborative approach to preserving sensitive lands that are close to major population areas. Instead of wasting millions of dollars on lawsuits, which has been the case often in the past between members of the conservation community and timber owners, this proposal enables a board of trustees made up of timber executives, of conservationists and people representing the Contract Logging Association to purchase property through tax-free bonds from a willing seller. Twenty percent of the property is immediately put into conservation easements, probably the most sensitive portion of the property, around lakes and rivers and streams, for example. There is a continuation, however, of timber harvests, because the purpose of the harvests must be to pay off the bonds that are granted by an organization within the involved State. It is a broadly supported provision, broadly supported by the conservation community and also the timber community.”