Right. Which brings to mind my favorite piece of legislation from the 104th Congress, the so-called Salvage rider, Section 2001 of Public Law 104-19. In which the Forest service was required to clearcut old growth forest in order to save it. A choice excerpt:
3) The term `salvage timber sale' means a timber sale for which an important reason for entry includes the removal of disease- or insect-infested trees, dead, damaged, or down trees, or trees affected by fire or imminently susceptible to fire or insect attack. Such term also includes the removal of associated trees or trees lacking the characteristics of a healthy and viable ecosystem for the purpose of ecosystem improvement or rehabilitation, except that any such sale must include an identifiable salvage component of trees described in the first sentence. (from thomas.loc.gov , look for "EMERGENCY SALVAGE TIMBER SALE PROGRAM"
The text is a riot, if you can read through it. Explicit legislative exemption from all environmental laws. All in the name of "improving forest health".
And, just in case anyone is wondering what was going on there, one good link I found is askjeeves.com .
This stuff used to really upset me, but now, I figure that the proud residents of the Pacific NW are getting what they deserve, if they keep electing the people who sneak through this kind of legislation. It's not in my back yard. Takings, indeed.
Cheers, Dan. |
