Posted on 09/30/2005 2:26:01 PM PDT by crazyhorse691
Logging - A judge deems public comment essential before dozens of Northwest projects can proceed
The U.S. Forest Service this week suspended more than 170 public land projects in Oregon and Washington, including 13 logging sales, after a judge revoked a Bush administration rule that eliminated public input on the work.
Administration officials issued the rule in 2003 to speed thinning of fire-prone trees under the Healthy Forest Initiative the president launched in the wake of Oregon's 2002 Biscuit fire. They promoted it as a tool to alleviate bureaucratic delays for smaller logging projects.
Environmental activists countered that it would inflame controversy and distrust by short-circuiting the public's say.
"Instead of achieving their goal of getting projects through faster, they've accomplished just the opposite," said Mike Anderson of The Wilderness Society in Seattle.
The 13 suspended logging projects in the region were relatively small, and about half were to reduce fire hazards. The rest included salvaging timber killed by insects or other causes, said Rex Holloway, a Forest Service spokesman. Five involved thinning timber without commercial value.
Other halted projects range from trail and road maintenance to wildlife habitat work caught in the mix because the Forest Service exempted them from environmental review through the same means as the logging. About one-third were already completed, though.
All projects must now be opened to public comment for 30 days and then subject to appeals for 45 days. If an appeal is filed, it could take another 60 days to decide.
The suspensions resulted from a decision by U.S. District Judge James K. Singleton Jr. in a California lawsuit filed by Heartwood, an Illinois environmental group. Singleton restored footholds activists have used to slow or block cutting they say damages forests in the name of reducing fire danger.
The Bush administration had tried to eliminate the footholds in 2003 by exempting thinning and logging of fire-prone trees from public comment and appeals when they covered less than 1,000 acres. It also exempted logging less than 70 acres of live trees -- but not clear-cuts -- and cutting less than 250 acres of dead, dying or diseased trees.
Larger logging projects still faced full environmental reviews and were not affected.
The provisions bypassing public comments and appeals were occasionally helpful in speeding smaller projects, such as those to thin flammable forests near communities, said Phil Mattson of the Forest Service's regional office.
The court decision will be felt mostly through delays that impose "a little extra workload, but a fair amount of extra time."
Bush officials argued their action sharply reduced administrative costs that swallowed 35 cents to 45 cents of every federal dollar dedicated to thinning, so more work got done.
Federal agencies expected to proceed with about 650 projects under the provisions to address fire danger across 351,000 acres in 2005.
The judge recognized that the Forest Service "faces constant pressure to pare down administrative costs." But he said in a July decision that the Bush provision illegally cut the public out of projects when Congress assured the public a voice.
The Forest Service cannot "attempt to streamline its appeals process by creating an escape hatch that thwarts congressional intent," he said. He ordered that the projects be subjected to public comment and appeals.
Federal attorneys first contended that Singleton's decision affected only the Eastern California court district where he issued it, and the Forest Service did not comply anywhere else.
The Western Environmental Law Center, which represented Heartwood in the case, said the government could not pick and choose where to apply the court decision, and Singleton agreed. He said this month that the ruling must apply nationwide.
That forced the Forest Service to suspend projects it authorized in other parts of the country, including Oregon and Washington, since the judge's original July decision.
"They've put themselves in a temporarily tough spot by not doing what they were supposed to do in the first place," said Matt Kenna of the Western Environmental Law Center. "It's their own fault for not following court's order."
Environmental attorneys wanted Singleton to suspend all projects authorized under the now-invalid Bush rules since they were issued in 2003. But the judge did not, saying it would "plunge the Forest Service headlong into a crippling morass of confusion."
They also wanted the judge to hold Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth in contempt of court for not applying the July order nationwide, but Singleton did not.
Michael Milstein: 503-294-7689; michaelmilstein@news.oregonian.com
Lemme guess, a Clinton Appointee...
Morons. The thinning of smaller trees will make the rest healthier. Building roads into the forests will enable firefighters to get there to fight the fires that start every summer.
The environmental wackos actually prefer seeing thousands of acres burn to having the forests sensibly managed. Idiots.
Thugs and Villains the following: USDA, USFS, USConserv. Dept.
This statement contradicts itself. What the hell do they think dead trees, killed by insects or other causes, are except a fire hazard? If they still have useful wood left in them then I guess it is evil to log them!
All of these greenie whacko bastards should be crucified {on the tree of their choice, of course} /sarcasm - sort of!
He appears to be a Bush 41 appointee.
And they are especially pleased when the wildfires burn homes and ranches.
And best of all: businesses. After all, many of the environmentalists are actually socialists and communists who joined the dems after the collapse of the Soviet empire. The environmentalists' anti-development plank is a great cover for the fellow-travelers to carry on their fight against capitalism.
Just one time when these forests in Oregon catch fire let them burn ~ quit wasting my tax dollars on them ~ and keep FEMA out of there because they might help these crazoids escape the flames!
Leave 'em up there, too...that'll (sooner or later) nourish the tree they love so much.
As if the agency was currently being run as a well oiled machine.
Sarcasm aside, Congress created the USFS, and congress is responsible for screwing it up with endless rules and regulations.
"If they still have useful wood left in them then I guess it is evil to log them!"
Eco-freaks = Pantheists
To them dead logs are dead relatives.
Who the H$ll's running this country???? Who named this judge President??
They think, and I have been told this, that if they let the loggers take out the burned trees, then they will purposely set fires all over, so they can harvest the burned forest.
What upsets me the most is the roadless forest initiative, the fire fighters can't get in there to save the trees. The enviornmentals would rather the trees burn than have them thinned. Nobody talks about the thousands of animals that have died in these fires, and I bet some of them are the spotted owl!!
I believe around 25 nesting pairs of spotted owls were either killed or displaced in southern Oregon by the Biscuit Fire of 2002. It also burned the entire Kalomiopsis Wilderness area. People who believe that this is somehow good for the animals are totally clueless IMHO.
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