Posted on 10/30/2003 4:48:09 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House was set to approve a record $2.9 billion for firefighting and fire protection in federal forests, while the Senate debated a plan Thursday to make it easier to thin out forests so they are less susceptible to rapidly moving wildfires. The congressional action came amid the backdrop of raging wildfires in California and Colorado. The fires have raised renewed concerns among lawmakers over the management of the nation's forests. The House bill, part of a spending measure for the Interior Department, would provide $800 million for battling wildfires, an increase of nearly $300 million over the current budget. It also would allocate $937 million this fiscal year for activities such as tree thinning aimed at reducing the wildfire threat. Senate Democrats joined Republicans in support of legislation that calls for aggressive thinning of 20 million acres of federal forest land that is considered potentially high fire risk, including many forest areas near population centers. The bill calls for spending $760 million for timber thinning projects with half of the money going to forests adjacent to communities. An attempt to funnel more money to forests near populated areas was defeated 61-34. The Bush administration supported the Senate "healthy forests" initiative, even though it was more restrictive than a House version that more closely reflects what the Interior Department had proposed. The Senate bill would provide "the needed flexibility to manage public lands wisely" and implement a forest management plan "good for both the environment and our economy." Supporters of the legislation said that a buildup of dead trees, brush and undergrowth has aggravated the fire threat and resulted in the kinds of wildfires that have devastated much of the West in recent years including the current fires in California and Colorado. But environmentalists have criticized the legislation and said that the Western wildfires are being used to open federal forests to new logging, including the cutting of mature trees and fire resistant trees far from populated areas. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., one of the bill's sponsors, said the legislation includes protection for old growth forests. "This legislation is not a logging bill," she said, adding that it is needed to clear dead trees and brush from forests to reduce the threat of fires and insect infestation. The legislation would lift the requirement for environmental reviews for thinning activities covering up to 1,000 acres and limit the ability of such tree trimming plans to be challenged in court. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said the changes are needed to end "the paralysis through continuous litigation" that has marked timber thinning activities for years.
The Bush administration is about to drop a requirement to conduct environmental studies before logging or burning trees to prevent forest fires. And it wants to end consultations over whether such actions would affect endangered species.
Environmentalist organizations said the new rule is a carte blanche for loggers.
Under the new policy, the Forest Service and Interior Department would not need an environmental study before cutting or burning excess trees on as many as 190 million acres of federal land considered to be at-risk for a catastrophic wildfire -- an area nearly the size of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana combined.
"These new tools will reduce the layers of unnecessary red tape and procedural delay that prevent agency experts from acting quickly to protect communities and our natural resources from devastating wildfires," Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said Friday.
The projects would not be subject to administrative appeals; the administration also is limiting who can appeal projects carried out under normal circumstances.
Trees could be cut from as many as 1,000 acres without environmental studies; controlled burns could be used to burn out excess trees on as many as 4,500 acres. The exemptions could not be used in wilderness areas, areas being considered for wilderness designation or national parks.
The regulations will take effect after they are published in the Federal Register next week.
"This clears the way for the timber industry and its friends in government to loot public forests and pocket the proceeds, free from public input or environmental review," said Amy Mall, a forest specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The administration also wants to end required endangered species consultations with the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service before conducting fire prevention treatments.
Under existing regulations, the wildlife agencies must be consulted if the projects could affect endangered species or habitat critical to their survival. Those consultations would no longer be needed if the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management biologists determine endangered species will probably not be harmed.
"They're trying to change the meaningful check and balance of the wildlife agency into a rubber stamp for the Forest Service," said Marty Hayden, vice president of the environmental group Earthjustice.
The proposed changes to the endangered species consultation will be subject to public comment before a final rule is issued.
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