Senator Jon Kyl has lambasted the Southwest Center for Biodiversity in his statement at Show Low last week. Here is something from his website:
http://www.senate.gov/~kyl/#statmnt
"Environmentally-sound strategies such as forest thinning and controlled burns clear away small, dry, and disease-prone trees and underbrush that serve as kindling for fires and prevent healthy growth. Arizonans can see the results of such proper forest-management techniques firsthand. The White Mountain Fort Apache Indian Reservation, Mount Trumbell, and other places in our state prove that properly-thinned forests are not only healthier and fire-resistant, but much more attractive. "Yet standing in the way of these efforts are radical environmentalists who file litigation and seek to otherwise obstruct forest treatment. They would rather the forests burn than to see sensible forest management. As of last month, there were 5,000 legal challenges pending against the U.S. Forest Service, which devotes nearly 40 percent of its resources to defending against lawsuits and complying with environmental regulations. This is time and money taken away from fighting fires."Along with other Western Senators, I am proposing legislation shortly to establish an ecological research institute in Arizona that will work with land managers to implement forest-restoration treatments throughout the state. As it happens, my request for $1 million in federal funding for a pilot program to treat Apache-Sitgreaves through forest thinning was granted shortly before this wildfire broke out. We will work to fund more pilot programs throughout the state, because as long as we leave our forests untreated, we will guarantee catastrophic damage."
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