Free Republic

<p>Hoping to avoid another decade of haggling and litigation over the Sierra Nevada, state officials are urging the Bush administration to work with them on reducing fire dangers instead of weakening a 2-year-old plan aimed at restoring Sierra forests.</p> <p>Regional Forester Jack Blackwell is expected today to announce revisions to the Sierra Nevada Framework that he says will make it easier for the U.S. Forest Service to thin brush and trees that have fueled unnaturally large fires in the Sierra.</p>

<p>After a year of review, a U.S. Forest Service team is recommending sweeping changes to a Clinton-era management plan for the Sierra Nevada: Logging would more than double, ranchers could graze more cattle and district rangers would be allowed to thin forests more aggressively, according to a report released Thursday.</p>

<p>In a major shift in how public forests are managed across California, the U.S. Forest Service is preparing to let timber companies log more "medium-sized" trees from 11 million acres of the Sierra Nevada mountains.</p> <p>The increased logging is one of several changes Regional Forester Jack Blackwell is considering for the Sierra Nevada Framework, a sweeping restoration plan instituted during the final days of the Clinton administration.</p>

<p>Re "Dead trees, live debate," Our Views, March 26: The Bee would have readers believe the Forest Service is doing the right thing.</p> <p>The Tahoe National Forest (TNF) Star Fire salvage logging project plans to log large trees over 24 inches in diameter in old forest areas. The Sierra Nevada Forest Plan (commonly known as the Framework) states that any logging in old-growth forests must show the benefit to removal.</p>