Bush plan to streamline forest rules nears completion

[Nambe]

WASHINGTON (AP)

The Bush administration, brushing aside concerns from environmentalists, is pushing forward with plans to give national forest managers more flexibility to approve logging and commercial activities, with less environmental review.

The final forest management rules will be reviewed by the White House's Office of Management and Budget before going into effect this fall. A draft was obtained by The Associated Press.

The new rules would overhaul the landmark 1976 National Forest Management Act, which sets the basic rules for management of the nation's 155 national forests and protects forest wildlife. ---

The final rules would leave intact some of the most controversial proposals from a draft plan released last November. Like the draft, the final plan would give regional managers of the Forest Service more discretion to approve logging, drilling and mining operations without having to conduct formal scientific investigations known as environmental impact statements. ---

[htuttle]

1. I believe he intends to 'streamline' the Rockies

They will be much more aerodynamic once the trees are all removed.

[ixion]

2. should read: Bush plan to clear cut forests nearly complete

:-(

[FlashHarry]

3. 'Streamline.' Classic corporate jargon meaning "CUT"

Whenever an enterprise says it's 'streamlining,' you can bet it involves cutting things--usually jobs. See: 'right-sizing'--one of my most hated examples of corporate doublespeak.


But, what else would you expect from "America's first CEO President?"

[pfitz59]

4. Dead fish, silted rivers, floods......

Worse fires, timber-industry handouts, etc, etc...
"Only YOU can prevent forests!" new Motto of the Bush* Admin.

[LauraK]

5. Don't forget drinking water! The forests purify the water.

All major cities are planning to reforest drainage areas worldwide.

[peterh]

6. In today’s L.A. Times…shrub’s policy gets blasted

State Official Deplores U.S. Forest Management

<http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sierra9sep09,1,3734354.story?coll=la-headlines-california>

A top California environmental official complained Monday that the Bush administration insists on having its own way in its forest policies and ignores state input on management of the Sierra Nevada.

"They have this cowboy mentality — just leave us alone to manage the forests the way we want to," said Mary Nichols, secretary of the California Resources Agency. "And that winds up with more lawsuits and more risks It's a policy that is destined to fail."

"You don't want to be in a position of publicly attacking an agency that, in many respects, has tried to be a good partner They are being told they have to go back to a program of selling off more of the forests for timber production and the excuse is, 'We can't afford to let these areas burn.' "

[treefrogjohn]

7. Trees are terrorists

Yeah. That's the ticket. That's how we'll explain why they all have to go. Thanks for the idea, Karl.

[MaineDem]

8. Ed Muskie must be spinning in his grave

Look what they've done to my trees, ma.
;(