New forest thinning contract awarded

[chumley]

I just got this in email today. Seems like the pine country of Arizona is about to see some work.

Pioneer Forest Products remains on track to begin thinning operations on largest forest stewardship contract in history

August 13, 2012

FLAGSTAFF – In the three months since being awarded the largest stewardship contract by the U.S. Forest Service, Pioneer Forest Products been making great strides in the development of its Winslow, Ariz., wood utilization campus and has been actively building the local workforce necessary to thin more than 300,000 acres in 10 years.

As part of the Four Forest Restoration Initiative, Pioneer Forest Products was chosen to work for the Forest Service to perform restoration treatments on 300,000 acres in the Coconino, Tonto, Apache-Sitgreaves and Kaibab national forests in northern Arizona. To process the wood removed from these forests, Pioneer is building a state-of-the-art timber plant near Winslow. The plant will convert small diameter pine timber into high value finger jointed material and use a portion of the woody debris to create bio-diesel fuel.

Since the contract award on May 18, Pioneer has made significant progress toward acquiring land in Winslow for the timber plant as well as a facility for Pioneer’s biomass partner Western Energy Solution/Concord Blue USA. Pioneer has selected a firm to begin working on final designs for the facilities, and a majority of the engineering contracts are in place.

“Our engineers have been working with Winslow city officials and engineers on details of site layout and design to reach agreement on a layout that is compatible with zoning requirements in the area,” said Herman Hauck, President of Pioneer Forest Products. “We have a preliminary site layout with building locations and equipment outlined on approximately 500 acres.”

Along with securing a location for the Winslow plant and finalizing building and equipment designs, Pioneer has been selecting loggers and equipment operators to carry out the specific operations on the ground as designed by the Forest Service.

“Pioneer has contacted many loggers from Arizona as well as across the West, and many are ready to begin operations when we start next year,” Hauck said. “For the most part, we are planning to hire locals to carry out operations for Pioneer and we expect this will mean several hundred new jobs throughout rural Arizona.”

Key financial discussions are under way with several investment groups, which will fund final equipment selection. With financing on target, Pioneer Forest Products is on track to begin operations in 2013 and assist the Forest Service in its mission to improve forest health, reduce the risk of wildfire to communities, create jobs, and improve local economies through the Four Forest Restoration Initiative.


Mandy Metzger

Coconino County Supervisor, District 4
219 East Cherry Avenue
Flagstaff, Arizona 86001
(928) 679-7164

[hikeaz]

These gullible gubment guys will NEVER be able to get out of their own way..... The real 'fire' is the hundreds of million$ of tax money that went (and is going) up-in-smoke.

The plan was ambitious and sold as righteous in a time of increasing wildfires in the forests of northern Arizona: A mill working under a federal contract would clear out small trees, removing them as potential wildfire fuel, and turning them into usable lumber.
The company with those plans, NewLife Forest Restoration, received help in building the mill from a relatively obscure state agency, the Arizona Industrial Development Authority. In February 2022, the authority authorized the issuance of nearly $200 million worth of bonds for the project.
But the sawmill has run into financial trouble, making it at least the sixth project backed by the Arizona Industrial Development Authority that has reported trouble meeting its obligations to investors.
In September 2021, the U.S. Forest Service stopped the bidding process for a second phase of its Four Forest Restoration Initiative, which has failed to meet expectations. Officials at the time said they needed time to reassess what should be in future bids. And no word has followed on the future of the program.
Some environmental experts have advocated that small-growth trees and brush be simply set ablaze, as it would be quicker than awaiting a timber industry to rebuild itself in northern Arizona.
Yet, those behind the proposed sawmill in Bellemont are pressing on, with continued support from the Arizona Industrial Development Authority.
At its June meeting of the authority board, the company that owns the sawmill reported that it entered into an agreement with investors that would allow it to miss its scheduled interest payments. It also asked permission to go into debt by $50 million more to complete construction.
The authority unanimously approved.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/ar ... bec&ei=132

Please peruse this whole thread (and links if you are inclined) to glean the full details of this debacle.

[ShatteredArm]

These gullible gubment guys will NEVER be able to get out of their own way..... The real 'fire' is the hundreds of million$ of tax money that went (and is going) up-in-smoke.

How do you figure? State funds are not used for the repayment of AZIDA bonds.

[hikeaz]

@ShatteredArm
I trust you have examined earlier in the thread and inserted links about all the failures by both the FS and the various (although incestuous) vendors. Sadly. ALL of that was your tax money. On this latest installment the taxpayer is merely on the hook for the Income tax on the interest payments.

[ShatteredArm]

@hikeaz
I read the article you linked, it says nothing to the effect of what you're claiming. Taxpayers aren't on the hook for AZIDA bonds, that's really all there is to it.

[hikeaz]

@ShatteredArm
As stated above.... "On this latest installment the taxpayer is merely on the hook for the Income tax on the interest payments."

[ShatteredArm]

@hikeaz
They're not "on the hook" for any installment, not even for interest payments on the "latest installment". These companies are paying the government for the contracts.

[hikeaz]

I will try to impart this a different way for you.
Interest paid as part of any repayment of these bonds is exempt from Federal and State Income Tax - Shifting the fed & state's needed(?) budget funds onto the other taxpayers.

This fiasco is now 12 years and nearly $400 Million in and they are still 'gathering information' and asking for Mo Money....yet nothing of value is built and nothing is better.
Four Hundred Million - without measurable results ...Let THAT sink in.

[chumley]

I find it odd when there’s an inconsistency in opinion depending on who is doing what. Is it a spending “cut” when a budget item that has yet to be increased is subjected to a smaller increase than hoped? Or is it still an increase?

On a totally separate note, I wonder what the comparison of wasted taxpayer money is on a forest thinning debacle versus wasted taxpayer money on “emergency” allocations used to fight wildfires and subsequently rehabilitate burned land?

One could argue that wasting a ton of money in one place could prevent wasting a ton x10 in another place! And if I was a politician, I believe I would call that “saving” taxpayer money!

[hikeaz]

if I was a politician, I believe I would call that “saving” taxpayer money!

(Since there is not a 'laughing with irony' emoji)

[ShatteredArm]

@hikeaz

I will try to impart this a different way for you.
Interest paid as part of any repayment of these bonds is exempt from Federal and State Income Tax - Shifting the fed & state's needed(?) budget funds onto the other taxpayers.

This fiasco is now 12 years and nearly $400 Million in and they are still 'gathering information' and asking for Mo Money....yet nothing of value is built and nothing is better.
Four Hundred Million - without measurable results ...Let THAT sink in.

I will continue to reiterate my point that none of that results in a "budget outlay". There's no budget line item here, no government bonds issued, no money out of the state coffers. The tax exemption you're talking about is chump change, and is not taxpayers "on the hook" for something. In fact, you even linked an article talking about how one of these private companies is defaulting on its loan, meaning there isn't even any lost tax revenue (since you typically don't have to pay taxes on income that doesn't actually exist).

I'm trying to point out to you that these are private companies paying the government for the contracts, and private investors funding those companies. The hundreds of millions in bonds you're talking about are not "taxpayer money" in any reasonable interpretation. Honestly, you "big bad gubmint" types should be really happy about how they arranged this.

[RedRoxx44]

Need more goats in the forest. And you can eat them too, milk them; whatever. I've had barbecued goat and it was darn good. And the bears/wolves could have a snack or two rather than eat cattle and make the ranchers angry. Have to reimburse the goat herders for their losses and as long as the government doesn't get too involved ( that will be 1.2 million per goat lost) it could help some in very rough areas where mechanical thinning would not work or be damaging.

[xsproutx]

As someone who grew up where goat was a much more common protein than in the states, I support the goat curry forest thinning operation. Now where do we get a lobbyist?

[JimmyLyding]

Need more goats in the forest. And you can eat them too, milk them; whatever. I've had barbecued goat and it was darn good. And the bears/wolves could have a snack or two rather than eat cattle and make the ranchers angry. Have to reimburse the goat herders for their losses and as long as the government doesn't get too involved ( that will be 1.2 million per goat lost) it could help some in very rough areas where mechanical thinning would not work or be damaging.

I see goats being used for thinning all the time here in the East Bay in the Bay Area. They do great work and recycle the vegetation back to the land.

[big_load]

Need more goats in the forest. And you can eat them too, milk them; whatever. I've had barbecued goat and it was darn good. And the bears/wolves could have a snack or two rather than eat cattle and make the ranchers angry. Have to reimburse the goat herders for their losses and as long as the government doesn't get too involved ( that will be 1.2 million per goat lost) it could help some in very rough areas where mechanical thinning would not work or be damaging.

I see goats being used for thinning all the time here in the East Bay in the Bay Area. They do great work and recycle the vegetation back to the land.

And they're a lot less dangerous on a steep slope than a lawnmower.