Garberville, California -- The Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) today denounced the latest efforts by the Bush Administration and some lawmakers to increase logging of ancient trees, eliminate environmental safeguards for public lands, and block citizen's from protecting National Forests.
"The Bush Administration, some lawmakers, and the timber industry are playing on the public's fears of wildfires to push forward industrial-strength logging projects in our nation's wild forests, all under the guise of 'fire risk reduction.' Bush's plan is not about "healthy forests" or "community protection" at all - just increased logging and expanded corporate welfare," said EPIC's Anthony Ambrose
The Bush Administration unveiled its latest plan to suspend environmental laws to allow more logging today in the House and Senate today. The plan outlines the Administrations legislative proposal to implement President Bush's "Healthy Forests Initiative" released on August 22, a proposal that was quickly condemned by scientists, firefighters, and conservation organizations as being a give-away to the timber industry that was more likely to result in degraded forests and increased fire risk.
The President's proposed bill would explicitly suspend the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which guarantees citizens the right to be involved with management decisions on public lands, as well as the administrative appeals process for all Forest Service actions. It also proposes authorities granted to the Forest Service under Sec. 706 of the Defense Authorization bill (the Daschle Rider), effectively suspending the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Forest Management Act and all other environmental laws in addition to NEPA. The President's bill also proposes to allow the Forest Service to give away unlimited amounts of large trees in timber sales to cover the costs of thinning low-value underbrush and small trees.
"The President's bill is a blatant and extreme attack on environmental laws and public participation in national forest management,' said Ambrose. "It fails to effectively protect communities or forests from fire, and instead focuses on increased logging and reduced agency accountability. The effect of the plan would be to turn over public lands to private timber companies, who will log the biggest, most fire-resistant trees, and leave behind the small fuels that contribute to high-severity fires. This plan is guaranteed to fuel the flames of public controversy and increase polarity within western communities." Ambrose continued.
Senators Larry Craig (R-ID) and Pete Domenici (R-NM) are expected to offer an amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill next week that includes much of the Administration's plan as well as additional provisions encouraging logging on Alaska's Tongass National Forest and California's Sierra Nevada forests. California's Senator Dianne Feinstein has previously indicated that she may support suspension of environmental laws and judicial review to expedite logging projects.
"We are concerned that Senator Feinstein will go along with the President's proposal and vote for the Craig/Domenici amendment. Senator Feinstein needs to understand that the majority of the American public does not support increased logging of ancient forests on public lands or the further elimination of citizen's rights," Ambrose said. "The proposed legislation would be a repeat of the disastrous 1995 "Lawless Logging Rider" which allowed the Forest Service to log old growth forests and endangered species habitat that had previously been protected. We encourage Senator Feinstein to work with other moderate Senators to develop alternative legislation that that focuses fuel reduction efforts near homes and communities without suspending or weakening environmental laws, citizen appeals or judicial review."
