Bush budget gives Oregon extra for forests, fish
The plan includes more money for thinning woodlands in the state viewed as pivotal in the 2004 election
01/29/04JIM BARNETT
WASHINGTON -- With the November election looming and Oregon likely to factor as a swing state, the Bush administration is touting plans in its 2005 budget to boost spending on environmental programs it once sought to limit.
The White House will release its full $2.3 trillion budget Monday. But as has been the practice in previous administrations, officials have offered the public a glimpse of proposals that might yield maximum political benefit.
Administration officials announced Wednesday that they would fully fund the new Healthy Forests Restoration Act, spending an additional $340 million a year to clear underbrush and diseased trees that fuel catastrophic wildfires.
Mark Rey, undersecretary of agriculture, said the new spending signified President Bush's commitment to resolve a vexing environmental problem and to carry out the wishes of Congress.
"The decision to provide this level of funding this year is a reflection of the president's commitment of achieving the goals of the act," Rey said. "The rationale behind the decision was very simple and very direct."
But President Bush's original Healthy Forests Initiative, unveiled in Oregon in 2002, did not include new money for thinning forests. The additional money was proposed by a bipartisan group of senators, including Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
In fact, the White House Office of Management and Budget registered its displeasure with the Senate's proposed $760 million fuels-reduction budget in an official Statement of Administration Policy.
"The Administration is concerned that the authorization level in the Senate bill is well above recently enacted funding levels," the OMB wrote to the Senate on Oct. 29.
Jay Ward, conservation director for the Oregon Natural Resources Council, said the shift amounted to an election-year conversion, and he is concerned by plans to pay for forest thinning by diverting money from other accounts.
"It's a smokescreen of money, especially in an election year, to make Oregonians think that he (Bush) is doing something good for the environment when it's just inadequate," Ward said.
Despite the importance of Oregon and other affected states to Bush's re-election, the announcements were not part of a White House political strategy, said Dana Perino, a spokeswoman for the Council on Environmental Quality.
"The only strategy here was to get out some information across the administration," Perino said. "We are very pleased to make the announcements that we have."
Wednesday's announcement on healthy forests was the third in as many days that spotlighted increases for programs that are considered crucial for conservation of natural resources in Oregon and across the Northwest.
More money for salmon On Monday, Bush administration officials said they would recommend $100 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, a bump of $10 million. The proposal in effect restored half of a $20 million increase Congress passed in 2002.
On Tuesday, they proposed $105 million for the Klamath River Basin. It was an increase of $15.5 million, but still short of the $175 million secured in the Senate version of the 2002 farm bill by Wyden and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore.
"It is interesting that when the Senate passed a $175 million package in bipartisan fashion, that effort goes unrecognized," said Josh Kardon, Wyden's chief of staff. "But when the White House comes up with substantially fewer resources, it is cause for a press opportunity."
However, Oregon is by not special in the treatment it has received from the administration. In preparation for release of the full budget Monday, officials have disclosed their plans for important programs in other regions.
For example, Fran Mainella, director of the National Park Service, recently told The Miami Herald that Bush will ask for an additional $789,000 for Everglades National Park in Florida, which decided the 2000 election for Bush.
And Environmental Protection Agency administrator Mike Leavitt plans Thursday to travel to the Midwest -- another electoral battleground -- to highlight agency programs for the Great Lakes.
Critics said that previewing budgets for individual programs ignores the reality of the budgeting process -- that others are underfunded or eliminated.
That's particularly true this year, said Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, an advocacy group. With large amounts set aside to rebuild Iraq and improve national security, little will be left for discretionary spending such as roads and schools.
"Oregon in particular, which has faced an enormous fiscal crisis, is going to be faced with the same problems because where the feds cut, the state will have to pick up," Bass said. "It is a no-win situation for Oregon unless the federal government increases total dollars and not just shifts the shells around."
Jim Barnett: jim.barnett@newhouse.com; 503-294-7604