Posted on 08/21/2002 9:47:05 AM PDT by madfly
08/21/02
When he speaks Thursday in Medford, President Bush is expected to push for more intensive thinning of Western forests to reduce fire danger. And he will likely support legislation streamlining environmental rules that have slowed many Western logging projects.
It will plainly signal the administration's approach to forest management against the backdrop of epic wildfires burning throughout Oregon and the West.
It could also incite a storm of opposition from environmental groups that argue logging only will do more harm to Western forests.
And the White House, which in May joined Western governors in backing plans to thin forests, has invited governors to appear with the president Thursday.
Administration officials have blamed tangles of environmental rules for slowing logging on federal lands and want cutting accelerated to meet targets set by the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. But so far the administration has not offered specific plans or direction on how to surmount either hurdle.
The president's visit comes as Western lawmakers, led by Craig, draw up legislation to speed cutting of overgrown forests. Craig was part of a bipartisan group, including Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., that appeared at an Aug. 1 news conference pledging to work to lessen the fire risk that accompanies overgrowth.
Craig said Tuesday that after the news conference he had discussed plans for a new wildfire policy with administration officials and discovered that Bush already had taken a strong interest in the topic. Craig said he expects the president to make a statement on the issue in Oregon, where many of the nation's largest wildfires are burning in forests clogged by decades of fire suppression.
"Public policy of the past has created the crisis of today, and I think our president recognizes that," Craig said. "He is willing to lead us on the issue to see if we can find some common ground to begin to treat these forests and bring down these wildfires."
Environmental groups, long critical of the president for appointing friends of timber and other industries to top posts, said the president is simply using Western wildfires to justify increased logging. They said cutting would likely target the most valuable large trees instead of the smaller wood that poses the greatest fire risk.
"This administration was pushing logging before these fires, it's pushing logging because of these fires, and it'll be pushing logging after these fires," said Nathaniel Lawrence of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The White House on Tuesday invited Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber to join the president in Southern Oregon on Thursday, when Bush will ride in a helicopter over the huge Biscuit Fire and visit a smaller fire closer to Medford.
Kitzhaber has led an effort by the Western Governors' Association to address wildfire threats across the West.
The Bush administration has signed onto the governors' plan of stepped-up thinning, and Bush will promote that Thursday. But the administration has so far not committed to the funding the governors want and in some cases has suggested firefighting costs have escalated out of control.
Governors from Idaho, Arizona and Montana also have been invited to join the president in Medford.
Craig's staff is still drafting its new wildfire policy, giving priority to 30 million acres of Western forests that are most densely overgrown and infested with insects.
Spokesmen said it would be similar to language devised by Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., that exempted thinning projects in his home state from appeals and lawsuits that could hold them up. Western senators from both parties have expressed support for the move, said Craig spokesman Mike Tracy.
"We know also the White House will be pushing for this," he said.
Daschle has said his language, approved as a rider to a defense bill, came only after South Dakota environmental and industry groups had reached agreement on the thinning and related wilderness designations.
Among other things, Craig said the bill might allow timber companies to thin forests and use the material -- a practice known as "goods for services" -- and would not allow lawsuits on thinning projects. He said companies should do the work because they have the expertise to do the work efficiently.
"I want people in there who are professionals who can follow the rules established by the Forest Service to thin and to clean," he said. "We can't spend the next three years training a work force."
But Craig said he would not support a bill that allowed for logging of the large old-growth trees that scientists think are most able to withstand fires.
"I am not talking about logging old growth, period -- end of statement," Craig said.
Craig is also working with Wyden on a bill that would protect old growth on the west slope of the Cascades, while speeding up thinning on the drier east side by easing legal and procedural hurdles for projects there. Many environmental groups oppose the measure, saying it sacrifices one forest for the other.
Josh Kardon, Wyden's chief of staff, said Wyden is interested in bills that would let agencies approve vital thinning projects more quickly as long as it does not eliminate the public's option of going to court to block a project.
"If it means ensuring timely judicial process for management activities where fire and other risks are present, Senator Wyden is very interested in pursuing bipartisan solutions," Kardon said.
Chris West, spokesman for the American Forest Resource Council, said the industry would welcome a commitment by Bush to forest health. Forest thinning under the National Fire Plan hasn't been able to get off the ground, he said.
Michael Milstein: 503-294-7689;
michaelmilstein@news.oregonian.com Tom Detzel of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report.
Sign making party 8:30 PM tonight, Wednesday, August 21
Hosted by Patrick 503-620-7749
1825 NE Halsey, East of Lloyd Center
Please come! RSVP for directions and more information!
See you in the Streets!
Love, Ms. Chris
Sign making party 8:30 PM tonight, Wednesday, August 21
Hosted by Patrick 503-620-7749
1825 NE Halsey, East of Lloyd Center
Please come! RSVP for directions and more information!
See you in the Streets!
Love, Ms. Chris
Like Dashcle, Wyden is in need of thinnin' out of his elected post.
This November, we must thin the Rat Pack Green herd in the Senate and the house. We need about 10 12 less Green Rats in the Senate and about 20-30 less Green Rats in the house.
Then as JustShe has pointed out, we need about 300 more conservative judges to eliminate or at least neutralize what the Clintoon did to us re judges.
THIN AND CULL THE GREEN RATS IN CONGRESS IN NOVEMBER!
More like: All litigation, no action.
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