NJFFSA16
12-12-2002, 05:38 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) - Logging on federal forest land and projects
aimed at reducing forest fires will face less environmental review
and public scrutiny under a Bush White House plan.
President Bush, rebuffed by Congress on his forest fire plan,
proposed new rules Wednesday to speed up thinning of fire-prone
forests and removal of brush to ease the risk of wildfires. Angry
environmentalists said the administration was merely doing the
bidding of timber companies.
The rules apply when the U.S. Forest Service and Interior
Department reduce "hazardous fuels" or do fire restoration
projects on public lands managed by the Forest Service, National
Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs
or Bureau of Land Management.
But they can't be applied if a project involves pesticides or
herbicides or construction of a permanent road or building,
administration officials said. They also can't be employed if a
project would harm threatened or endangered species and habitat
critical to their survival or affect the "wilderness character"
of wilderness or wilderness study areas.
Congress this fall wouldn't enact Bush's legislative proposal to
cut trees and remove brush by exempting up to 10 million acres of
federal forest land from environmental reviews and citizen appeals.
But Bush is going ahead with the core provisions of that
proposal through his administrative rule-making plan - subject to
30 days to 90 days of public comment, but not to congressional
approval - that builds on a program first used by the Clinton
administration.
Federal land managers are sending teams to 10 forest areas to
start cutting by next year's fire season. They plan to do a quick
environmental assessment, rather than following the current
requirement for a more complete review which usually takes years.
James Connaughton, Bush's senior environmental adviser, said
exhaustive environmental impact statements will be done in cases
where the effects of thinning are unclear.
Interior Secretary Gale Norton said they hope to curtail the
catastrophic fires that have increased in number and size in the
past decade, culminating in last year's season in which 7.1 million
acres burned and 21 firefighters died.
"Every one of the governors from the Western states would say
it's a move in the right direction," said Montana Gov. Judy Martz,
a Republican.
Environmentalists and Democrats, however, said they feared it
would damage federal lands, increase fire risk to communities and
make it harder for opponents to stand in the way.
"By shutting the public out and promoting more logging, the
Bush administration is leaving communities at risk from forest
fires," said Carl Pope, Sierra Club's executive director. "It is
disingenuous to promote increased logging packaged as fuel
reduction."
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., the outgoing chairman of the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Bush's plan "is not
detailed enough for me to determine whether it goes too far or
whether it contains adequate safeguards."
Two weeks ago, the administration also proposed giving forest
managers more leeway in approving logging and commerce with less
examination of potential environmental damages.
---
On the Net:
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/healthyforests
Sierra Club: http://www.sierraclub.org/logging
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
aimed at reducing forest fires will face less environmental review
and public scrutiny under a Bush White House plan.
President Bush, rebuffed by Congress on his forest fire plan,
proposed new rules Wednesday to speed up thinning of fire-prone
forests and removal of brush to ease the risk of wildfires. Angry
environmentalists said the administration was merely doing the
bidding of timber companies.
The rules apply when the U.S. Forest Service and Interior
Department reduce "hazardous fuels" or do fire restoration
projects on public lands managed by the Forest Service, National
Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs
or Bureau of Land Management.
But they can't be applied if a project involves pesticides or
herbicides or construction of a permanent road or building,
administration officials said. They also can't be employed if a
project would harm threatened or endangered species and habitat
critical to their survival or affect the "wilderness character"
of wilderness or wilderness study areas.
Congress this fall wouldn't enact Bush's legislative proposal to
cut trees and remove brush by exempting up to 10 million acres of
federal forest land from environmental reviews and citizen appeals.
But Bush is going ahead with the core provisions of that
proposal through his administrative rule-making plan - subject to
30 days to 90 days of public comment, but not to congressional
approval - that builds on a program first used by the Clinton
administration.
Federal land managers are sending teams to 10 forest areas to
start cutting by next year's fire season. They plan to do a quick
environmental assessment, rather than following the current
requirement for a more complete review which usually takes years.
James Connaughton, Bush's senior environmental adviser, said
exhaustive environmental impact statements will be done in cases
where the effects of thinning are unclear.
Interior Secretary Gale Norton said they hope to curtail the
catastrophic fires that have increased in number and size in the
past decade, culminating in last year's season in which 7.1 million
acres burned and 21 firefighters died.
"Every one of the governors from the Western states would say
it's a move in the right direction," said Montana Gov. Judy Martz,
a Republican.
Environmentalists and Democrats, however, said they feared it
would damage federal lands, increase fire risk to communities and
make it harder for opponents to stand in the way.
"By shutting the public out and promoting more logging, the
Bush administration is leaving communities at risk from forest
fires," said Carl Pope, Sierra Club's executive director. "It is
disingenuous to promote increased logging packaged as fuel
reduction."
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., the outgoing chairman of the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Bush's plan "is not
detailed enough for me to determine whether it goes too far or
whether it contains adequate safeguards."
Two weeks ago, the administration also proposed giving forest
managers more leeway in approving logging and commerce with less
examination of potential environmental damages.
---
On the Net:
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/healthyforests
Sierra Club: http://www.sierraclub.org/logging
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)