http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021127/pl_nm/environment_forest_dc_7 Bush Administration to Ease Forest Management Rules
| Wed Nov 27, 4:17 PM ET |
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By Christopher Doering
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration on Wednesday unveiled a plan to give local forest managers greater control over recreational and commercial activities in U.S. forests, a policy opponents said skirts environmental rules designed to protect fish and wildlife habitat.
In a proposal that has triggered a new round of skirmishes between President Bush ( news - web sites) and green groups over how to manage U.S. forest land, the administration said increasing the power of local foresters would "cut out red tape" and reduce court appeals that have muddled forest policy.
Environmental groups said the plan drastically reduces research scientists' input and public comments in crafting forest policy, all to the benefit of a Bush-friendly timber industry.
The controversial rules alter a 2000 plan by the Clinton administration, which directed the U.S. Forest Service to manage some 200 million acres of forest land with "ecological sustainability" as the top priority.
Under the Bush plan, the administration said environmental protection in 155 national forests would be judged equally with social uses and economic concerns, such as logging, on a case-by-case basis.
"This new planning rule will give managers access to the tools they need to prevent problems before they happen and to respond to them quickly," said Sally Collins, associate chief with the Forest Service. "It's time to bring national forest planning into the 21 century."
In a 90-page Forest Service document, the agency said the new rules will exempt forest managers from preparing time-consuming environmental impact statements (EIS) when they revise forest plans.
The agency said it would consider undertaking an in-depth environmental study once it has determined whether the land would be used for hiking, camping, logging, oil drilling or other activities.
"In many cases, an EIS for a forest plan is not providing useful information for the public," said Fred Norbury, Forest Service director of ecosystem management.
The Forest Service estimated it can take as many as seven years to complete a forest plan. The Bush administration has long complained that federal environmental rules and court appeals, dubbed by Forest Service chief Dale Bosworth as "analysis paralysis," make it nearly impossible to approve projects necessary to manage forests.
The administration said the new plan could save some $300 million of the estimated $1 billion needed to revise more than 100 forest plans.
ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS FIGHT BACK
Environmentalists and Democratic lawmakers wasted little time blasting the Republican administration for a plan they argued will boost logging at the expense of protecting the environment.
Senate and House Democrats said in a joint letter to Bosworth that the rule "weakens the minimum standards" necessary to manage forests and protect fish and wildlife. The new regulations, they argue, also would strip away a provision that requires the Forest Service to monitor and maintain sensitive species that live in forests.
"The minimum protections of the current rules are gone...and are replaced only by discretionary tasks which Forest Service personnel may freely choose to ignore," 15 Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter.
Green groups worry such a plan would be the latest in a series of rollbacks in forest protection. Earlier this year, the president proposed easing environmental reviews to allow the removal of trees and underbrush as a way to prevent wildfires.
"This administration hears only one voice, that of its friends in the timber industry who want to saw down our national forests without worrying about the needs of wildlife, the environment or the public," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife.
Among the earliest decisions made by the Bush administration was a decision to halt a Clinton-era rule that would prohibit road building and lumber removal on 60 million acres of U.S. forest land.
The forest management rule will be subjected to a 90-day public comment period before it goes into effect.
ALSO, read this:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20021130/pl_nm/environment_democrats_dc&e=4
My question is this: Is Bush really looking out for the best interests of this country? What is the reason for degressing in environmental issues??
Just trying to understand the Republican way of reasoning. The way I see it, there can be no misunderstanding whatsoever as to the serious nature of current environmental issues. Not taking any additional steps to make things better is one thing, taking steps BACKWARDS....??? I don't get it.