Everyone can talk in a rational manner about this & how Bush is saving the west from wildfire while Clinton made matters far worse!
August 14, 2001
Bush Backs 10-Year Plan to Fight Wildfires
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
The Associated Press
Gov. John Kitzhaber of Oregon, a Democrat, said serious wildfire problems in Western states were the product of 50 years of policy.
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho, Aug. 13 — The Bush administration today endorsed a plan that would give Western states and localities a freer hand in fighting wildfires. The agreement, signed here today by Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton and Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman, calls for aggressive prevention measures like thinning trees and burning underbrush and recognizes states as equal partners in firefighting. "This will require the federal government and state agencies to coordinate their efforts in new ways," Ms. Veneman said at the summer meeting of the Western Governors' Association here. The need for a long-range effort was first discussed by the Western governors last year at the end of one of the worst wildfire seasons ever, when 123,000 fires burned more than 8.4 million acres, mostly in the West. At the time, the governors said that preventive measures, like the clearing of brittle underbrush, had to be undertaken more quickly and that the federal government had to cede more firefighting authority to state and local agencies. Wildfire activity this season is considerably less, estimated at about 1.9 million acres so far, but still intense. Today, the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, went to Level Four status — of a possible five levels — for the first time this year, reflecting expanded fires in northern California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. One fire east of Ravendale, Calif., had consumed 55,000 acres by early today; smoke from a fire in the Sierra Nevada closed Interstate 80 in California. Fires across northern Nevada included one that, by early today, had burned 82,000 acres north of Battle Mountain. In southern Oregon, fire officials said, about 30 wildfires were burning today, including one of about 4,200 acres just southwest of Ashland. The fire threatened the habitat of the northern spotted owl, officials said, as well as the watershed from which Ashland gets its water. The document signed here today, which was addressed to leading members of Congress, essentially formalized the Western governors' ideas developed since last summer. Officials here said the new strategy was also intended to address the traditional debate over firefighting — preventive measures versus environmental concerns — and to streamline the way government agencies at all levels respond. Environmental groups traditionally oppose the logging of mature trees as a method of fire prevention. But Gov. Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, a Republican and chairman of the Western Governors' Association, said only small trees would be part of clearing efforts. Dale Bosworth, the chief of the Forest Service, which is in the Agriculture Department, said he feared that the new initiative might be too late. "I'm a little nervous, with the momentum of the material growing in the woods," Mr. Bosworth said. "I don't know if we can catch up. It may be impossible to ever catch up." Gregory H. Aplet, a forest ecologist with the Wilderness Society, gave passing approval to the plan, saying, "There's little in here to object to." "But there's a lot yet to be done," Mr. Aplet added. "The real challenge to everybody is to make sure that what they have committed to in the strategy is lived up to." By extracting a promise that the Bush administration would treat the states as equal partners in firefighting, the agreement acknowledged states' rights to make decisions for themselves without, as Gov. William J. Janklow of South Dakota said, "it all being done by saying, `Captain, may I?' " Mr. Janklow, a Republican, took a subtle swipe at the Clinton administration, welcoming the two cabinet secretaries as allies who "created none of the problems" the West is facing. But Gov. John A. Kitzhaber of Oregon, one of the few Democrats at the meeting — Gov. Gray Davis of California and Gov. Gary Locke of Washington did not attend — defended the former president. "People like to blame the Clinton administration, but this is replacing a 50-year policy," Mr. Kitzhaber said. Mr. Bosworth of the Forest Service said the success of the plan depended on the federal government's financial commitment. And despite the support and encouragement from the two cabinet secretaries, some state officials here said, it does not appear yet that President Bush is taking fire prevention much more seriously than his predecessor when it comes to funds allotted. In the 2001 federal budget, Congress approved $1.76 billion for wildland fire management for the Forest Service budget. But that included onetime appropriations of $566 million in emergency money to combat fires of last summer and to restore forest to some of the damaged areas. In the budget for wildland fire programs for the 2002 fiscal year, President Bush has asked for virtually the same base amount, $1.19 billion.
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