Dusty Johnson: “This weekend will be time to burn the beetle. I am talking about the mountain pine beetle and the damage it has done to…”

“This weekend will be time to burn the beetle. I am talking about the mountain pine beetle and the damage it has done to the majestic Black Hills National Forest. In recent years, that pine beetle has infected 430,000 acres in the Black Hills, leaving millions of dead trees. Now, the pine beetle thrives in an overly crowded forest. It craves density. So to tackle this problem, Federal, State, and local governments and private citizens have set to work thinning the forest. Initially, from the very beginning, it has been the State and local partners that have been most proactive and aggressive; but, in recent years, Federal policies have helped as well. The Forest Service started utilizing the categorical exclusions in the 2014 and the 2018 farm bills, allowing them to more quickly utilize sound forest management practices like tree thinning and controlled burns. This picture tells the story well. In areas where the forest has been actively managed, the trees live; in areas where they have not been, they die. And now, today, after years of battle, it seems as though we are nearing the end of this particular outbreak. That is good news, but it is no time to take our foot off the gas. One key action needed is to continue working with the timber industry to set and meet good harvest targets so we can get that excess timber out of the forest. Mr.…”