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Bush Plan Gives More Discretion to Forest Managers on Logging November 28, 2002 By ROBERT PEAR WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 - The Bush administration proposed today to give managers of the 155 national forests more discretion to approve logging and commercial activities with less evaluation of potential damage to the environment. The proposal would thoroughly rewrite rules issued by President Bill Clinton in November 2000. Under the Clinton-administration rules, the government must systematically assess the likely effects on the environment whenever it revises a 15-year plan for management of a national forest. Under the proposal issued today by the Forest Service, the preparation of the assessments, known as environmental impact statements, would be left to the discretion of the forest manager. The Clinton rules require the government to protect fish and wildlife in national forests so the species do not become threatened or endangered. One of the two major options in today's proposal says that forest management plans "should provide" such protections but does not require them. The other option says the government will identify steps needed to conserve fish and wildlife but does not require officials to take them. In announcing the new proposal today, the Forest Service said the Clinton administration rules were far too prescriptive and costly. The agency said the Clinton rules included "unnecessarily detailed procedural requirements for scientific peer reviews" and monitoring of individual species in the national forests. Sally Collins, chief operating officer of the Forest Service, a unit of the Agriculture Department, said, "The proposed rule is designed to more effectively involve the public and to better harmonize the environmental, social and economic benefits of America's greatest natural resource, our forests and grasslands." Environmentalists and Democrats in Congress denounced the proposal as a radical departure from rules and policies that have protected forests for more than two decades. They asserted that the administration had held back the proposal until after Election Day and the adjournment of Congress because it knew the changes would be unpopular. The public will have 90 days to comment on the proposal. After considering the comments, the administration intends to issue final rules with the force of law. The government has issued three sets of rules for managing the national forests, in 1979, 1982 and 2000. Environmentalists contend that today's proposal would provide less protection to forests and wildlife than the 1982 rules, issued by President Ronald Reagan. The Clinton rules took effect on Nov. 9, 2000, but the Bush administration put them on hold five months later. Critics said the Bush administration was, for the second time in a week, siding with business interests on an environmental issue. Last week the administration announced that it was loosening air pollution rules that apply to industrial sites, including oil refineries. Fifteen Democratic members of Congress - eight senators and seven House members - sent a letter to the administration today saying that the proposal would eliminate many protections for fish and wildlife. Such protections, they said, are essential because national forests are home to 25 percent of the species at risk of extinction in the United States. Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, House Democratic leader in the new Congress, is among those who signed the letter. The American Forest and Paper Association, a trade group for the forest products industry, welcomed the changes, saying they would allow forest managers to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. "The proposal will restore common sense to the forest management process," said Michael Klein, a spokesman for the association. "And I don't think it will necessarily mean more tree removal." But Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife, said: "The proposal is a brazen attempt to increase logging and help the timber industry. It closely follows the wish list of the American Forest and Paper Association." Mr. Schlickeisen said the proposal had been shaped by Mark Rey, the under secretary of agriculture for natural resources and environment. From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Rey was a vice president of the American Forest and Paper Association, and from 1976 to 1984, he worked for a predecessor organization. Heidi Valetkevitch, a Forest Service spokeswoman, said Mr. Rey was "in the chain of command" but the plan had been devised mainly by Ms. Collins and Dale N. Bosworth, chief of the Forest Service. Mr. Bosworth has said that his highest priority is to end "analysis paralysis." By that, he said, "I mean the difficult, costly, confusing and seemingly endless processes" that generate studies, administrative appeals and litigation without tangible benefit to forest lands. Federal officials said the proposal would reduce the cost of forest planning by 30 percent and could cut the time required to develop a forest plan to two years, from the current six or seven years. The proposal applies to 192 million acres of public lands in 155 national forests and 20 grasslands in 44 states. The forests include Tongass, in Alaska, with snow-capped mountains and streams filled with salmon; the Sequoia forest in California, where ancient trees tower over visitors; Gallatin, in Montana, one of the last refuges for grizzly bears and wolves in the lower 48 states; and the White Mountain National Forest, in New Hampshire and Maine, which has 1,200 miles of hiking trails. For each national forest, the government prepares a formal plan, similar to a zoning ordinance. The plan identifies areas suitable for recreation, grazing and timber harvesting and specifies what must be done to protect rare species, prevent floods and reduce wildfire hazards. Under the rules issued by the Clinton administration, the government must assess the effects on the environment whenever it revises a forest plan. The proposed rules would not require such assessments. Ms. Valetkevitch of the Forest Service said: "Under the proposed rule, an environmental impact statement will not always be required when revising a forest plan. We are giving more discretion to the forest manager in deciding whether an impact statement is warranted. The manager can look at his forest or grassland and decide what's best." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/28/politics/28FORE.html?ex=1039630828&ei=1&en=c9227f21d7d6f0fa HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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