Free Republic

Almost half U.S. women do not mind if a man is losing his hair, but 99 percent are against comb-overs, a new survey has found. Forty-eight percent of the women in the online poll for Cargo magazine say men shouldn't even worry about hair loss, while 32 recommend going with the flow and cutting all hair off. But only 1 percent suggest hiding a balding head under a cap or a comb-over. Fifty-eight percent of the women say men look sexiest in jeans and a t-shirt, but they hate men in anything too trendy: 92 percent hated leather pants, 91...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration will ask Congress to increase funding to $867 million in fiscal year 2006 for a plan to help reduce the risk of wildfires in federal forests, a senior administration official said on Thursday. The U.S. Agriculture Department's Forest Service division and the Interior Department, which work together to fight forest fires, received $811 million in the current budget year for the forest management plan. Environmentalists have criticized the program as a way to give logging companies more access to timber under the guise of forest protection. The proposed increase will be part of the...

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...

When fires turn eastern Washington and Oregon forests into wastelands, valuable wildlife habitat is lost and it costs between $1,300 and $2,100 per acre in fire-fighting costs, lost buildings, economic suffering by nearby communities and degraded waterways, say University of Washington researchers in a recently published report. The report attempts for the first time to tally the cost per acre of letting the worst wildfires - the crown fires - burn. It's a needed perspective when considering thinning overly dense stands - work that could cost nearly $600 an acre in some places. So say UW researchers who are offering...

SUMMIT COUNTY - U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., will introduce legislation this week to expedite the process of thinning forests to reduce wildfire risks and protect water supplies in areas prone to fires. Udall's bill, the Forest Restoration and Fire Risk Reduction Act, would create advisory panels whose members - representing the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, park service, fish and wildlife and others - will select areas where restoration and fuel reduction projects should take place. "We've made efforts to reduce the risks of catastrophic fire and promote better forest management through fuel reduction and thinning...

Thinning May Benefit Certain Young Forests WASHINGTON, DC, November 21, 2002 (ENS) - Thinning of young forests can increase biodiversity and boost the development of old growth characteristics, but only if methods are used that protect and promote the development of shrubs, hardwoods, and large or old trees, new research shows. The findings, which were made by researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Oregon State University (OSU), hold special significance for the management of many young forests, with trees less than about 60 years old, which cover vast portions of the Pacific Northwest. The conclusions are based...

DENVER - Logging in Beaver Park in South Dakota's Black Hills National Forest can continue now that environmentalists have lost their legal battle to block it.U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham said Tuesday he would not halt the work because a new logging law did not violate a 2000 settlement between the government and environmentalists which limited logging in the forest.Sen. Tom Daschle attached the legislation to an emergency spending bill this summer to exempt parts of his home state from environmental regulations and allow more tree cutting as a way to prevent wildfires.Nottingham said Congress legally changed those environmental regulations...

Speech before U.S. Senate by Senator Jon Kyl, R-Az, Sept. 17 2002 Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I would like to speak directly to the issues raised both by the majority leader and the Senator from Montana; specifically, with respect to how we are going to resolve issues related to the health of our forests. I know the discussion has greatly focused on fires and the catastrophic results of fires this year. I am going to talk about that to a great extent. But I would like to make a point at the very beginning which I hope we don't...