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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (194205)	7/13/2004 1:39:00 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1578133

Bush forest plan called bad for LA; Environmentalists attack logging proposal By GERARD SHIELDS gshields@theadvocate.com Advocate Washington bureau Advocate file photo A new rule proposed by the Bush administration to open the nation's forests to logging could affect the 600,000-acre Kisatchie National Forest in central and northern Louisiana. WASHINGTON -- One of Louisiana's leading environmental groups said Monday some 7,000 acres of national forest throughout the state could be threatened under a new rule proposed by the Bush administration. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday it plans to reverse a Clinton administration policy that blocked road-building in remote areas of national forests, protecting 58 million acres of the 191 million acres nationwide. In its stead, governors will now have to petition the federal government to protect forests. Aaron Viles, Gulf States field director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group in New Orleans, said the repeal of the so-called "roadless rule" will open the nation's forests to logging. "It basically clear cuts the roadless rules," said Viles, who helped draft the Clinton policy. "It is a full repeal." Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman painted a different picture Monday, calling the new policy a conservation strategy. "Our actions today advance President Bush's commitment to cooperatively conserving roadless areas on national forests," Veneman said at an Idaho news conference. "Our announcements today illustrates our commitment to working closely with the nation's governors to meet the needs of local communities and to maintaining the undeveloped character of the most-pristine areas of the National Forest System." Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco just learned of Bush's proposal Monday and needs time to review it and discuss it with her staff before taking a position, spokesman Roderick Hawkins said. The issue won't be as pressing in Louisiana, where timber is not as big an industry, Viles said. But the matter could affect the 600,000-acre Kisatchie National Forest spread throughout Vernon, Rapides, Grant, Natchitoches, Webster, Claiborne and Winn parishes in central and northern Louisiana. "We don't have many wilderness areas," Viles said. "We don't have much to set aside." Federal judges have twice struck down the Clinton rule, most recently last year in Wyoming. The legal challenges complicated matters, Veneman said. "The prospect of endless lawsuits represents neither progress, nor certainty for our communities," she said. Environmentalists such as Viles contend that governors in Western pro-logging states will not seek to keep the Clinton roadless rule in effect. Twelve Western states contain 97 percent or 56.6 million acres of roadless acreage. In 2006, each governor may submit a proposal either to continue protecting the roadless land or open it to multiple use. The federal government would consider each state petition and then issue a regulation determining the extent of future roadless protection. "It's ridiculous that the Bush administration is giving this gift to the timber industry," Viles said. "Idaho is a fitting state to announce this because there is going to be a lot of logging in Idaho." Idaho has the most land in the lower 48 states affected by the roadless designation -- 9.3 million acres -- and was one of the first states to challenge the Clinton administration rule. A major point of contention in Idaho could be 200,000 acres in the Clearwater River area of north-central Idaho. The area is untrammeled, and conservationists want it preserved. But the Forest Service has proposed some timber sales in the area, and land managers believe logging would reduce the danger of wildfire and protect the basin's famed elk herd. Veneman and Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, a Republican, both argued that the proposal ends the legal uncertainty over the old rule and leaves forest management decisions with people most aware of local needs. The new plan will be published in the Federal Register this week, with a 60-day comment period extending into September. 2theadvocate.com