Thanks to George Wuerthner, staff ecologist of the Oregon Natural Desert Association, for sending me this newsclip. How often do government agencies and their corporate allies "fix the intelligence to fit the policy" at ecological and taxpayer expense?
Stan Moore San Geronimo, CA [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Logging loses money > > > > By MATTHEW DALY > > Associated Press writer > > WASHINGTON -- The federal government spent nearly > > $11 million to salvage timber from an Oregon > > wildfire in 2002 -- but got less than $9 million > > from selling wood that was saved, a new report > > shows. > > > > The report also said that, contrary to claims by the > > Bush administration and its Republican allies in > > Congress, post-fire logging activities generally > > were not delayed by lawsuits. > > > > Instead, the size of the Biscuit fire and the > > complexity of environmental laws -- plus an > > administration decision to change its plans to > > dramatically increase logging -- were responsible > > for delays, the report says. > > > > The study by the Government Accountability Office, > > the investigative arm of Congress, is to be released > > today. A copy was obtained by The Associated Press. > > > > The report comes as Congress considers a bill to > > speed up the logging of burned forests and planting > > of new trees after storms and wildfires. The bill, > > which has been approved by the House and is pending > > in the Senate, would order that federal land hit by > > disasters of more than 1,000 acres be restored > > within months, rather than years -- before insects > > and rot sets in, diminishing the commercial value of > > fire-killed timber. > > > > The measure's co-sponsors, Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore. > > and Brian Baird, D-Wash., call it a common sense > > plan that will be good for the environment and the > > economy. They cite the Biscuit fire as a prime > > example of the need for the legislation. > > > > Environmental groups and a majority of House > > Democrats oppose the bill, arguing that cutting > > large old trees and planting new ones makes forests > > more vulnerable to new fires and less valuable as > > habitat for fish and wildlife. They say it is better > > to allow forests to come back on their own. > > > > The Biscuit fire burned almost 500,000 acres in > > Oregon and California in 2002, making it largest > > wildfire in the continental United States since > > 1997. > > > > The study says the Forest Service and other agencies > > have spent $5 million so far and expect to spend > > another $5.7 million for post-fire logging > > operations that are expected to generate just $8.8 > > million in revenue. > > > > Overall, 12 salvage sales in the burned areas were > > completed by the end of 2005, resulting in harvests > > of about 67 million board feet, the GAO report said. > > The total was less than one-fifth the 367 million > > board feet proposed for sale in an environmental > > impact statement issued by the Bush administration > > in 2004. > > > > A board foot is the volume of a piece of wood 1-foot > > square and 1-inch thick. It takes about 10,000 board > > feet to build a modest single-family home. > > > > "Forest staff overestimated the timber available for > > harvest," the report said, adding that > > administration estimates that salvage logging would > > create about 6,900 local jobs and $240 million in > > regional economic activity now appear overly > > optimistic. > > > > While final answers are premature, "we would expect > > the actual economic results to be less than the > > (2004) estimate" the report said. > > > > New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman, ranking Democrat on > > the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, > > said the GAO report demonstrated that the Bush > > administration overreached in its efforts to log > > large areas burned by the Biscuit fire. > > > > "Taxpayers are going to have to spend millions more > > just cleaning up the damage from the logging than > > the government made from the timber sales. At the > > same time, promises of community fire protection, > > habitat restoration and scientific analyses remain > > unscheduled and unfulfilled," he said. > > > > Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, chairman of a Senate > > forestry subcommittee, has said he wants a vote on > > the logging bill before the end of the year. > > > > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around >http://mail.yahoo.com
