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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (17464)	5/16/2005 10:07:30 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Respond to of 362348

Wally World.. the bare truth edworkforce.house.gov

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (17464)	5/16/2005 10:10:18 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Respond to of 362348

BUSHGREENWATCH Tracking the Bush Administration's Environmental Misdeeds bushgreenwatch.org *************************************** May 16, 2005 BUSH ADMINISTRATION ENDANGERS ONE-THIRD OF LAST PRISTINE NATIONAL FORESTS Nationwide headlines this month announced that the Bush Administration is repealing a rule that protects 58.5 million acres of untouched National Forests from logging, mining and other commercial interests. Some 60 million Americans get their clean drinking water from pristine forest areas. The Administration claims this repeal of the "roadless rule", will give governors more authority over land within their state formerly protected under federal law. But critics claim the rule ultimately grants more land-use authority to the Secretary of Agriculture, and is no more than a ruse to enable loggers and miners access to some of America's last wilderness. Under the new rule, 34.3 million acres are immediately made available for road construction. The land can be protected only if state governors successfully petition the U.S. Forest Service within 18 months. To develop on the remaining 24.2 million acres, governors can request that the U.S. Forest Service write new management plans that allow construction. Critics assert that the governors' new authority is only a smokescreen for giving more power to the federal government. "The rule...establishes a meaningless process for governors to petition," said U.S. PIRG Executive Director Gene Karpinski in a news release: "Governors will be used as window dressing while the Secretary of Agriculture will retain control." [1] Robert Vandermark, director of the Heritage Forests Campaign, described flaws in the petitioning process: "First of all the petition is completely voluntary. It only gives the governor an opportunity to recommend how the forests be managed: he can suggest to either protect or develop on the land. "If the governor does decide to go forward with a petition," continued Vandermark, "the state must invest an abundance of resources to meet the requirements of the petition, such as property access, wildlife habitat management, and fire hazards, all of which are procedures the state is unfamiliar with. The entire process can cost far more than the Administration's estimate of $25,000-$100,000." Another reason the cost could be much higher than the Administration's estimate is that the Administration exempted the new rule from National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis, which means the burden of NEPA compliance, an expensive procedure, is incurred by individual states and local national forests. [2] During the 18-month petition period, the National Forest land remains vulnerable to development, since there are no longer any federal protections. Once a petition is complete it goes to an advisory committee that will make recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture. The petition may be rejected or accepted based on criteria that are not yet clear. Despite criticism of the petitioning process, Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey, a former lobbyist for the timber industry who is now in charge of the Forest Service, says the new rule will reduce litigation, encourage collaboration between the state and federal government, and facilitate economic growth. Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), however, predicts that "tensions will dramatically increase over land-use in the West." [3] The 386,000 miles of roads already built in America's national forests have generated $10 billion in maintenance costs for the Forest Service. While spending nearly $49 million on logging programs and roads last year, the Forest Service received only $800,000 from timber sales -- a $48 million loss to the American taxpayer. [4] ### TAKE ACTION Encourage your governor to petition the federal government through Save Our Wild Forests: ga3.org.