U.S. Forest Policy Is Set to Change, Aiding Developer

[DogPoundPup]

Source: Washington Post

LOS ANGELES -- The Bush administration appears poised to push through a change in U.S. Forest Service agreements that would make it far easier for mountain forests to be converted to housing subdivisions.

Mark E. Rey, the former timber lobbyist who heads the Forest Service, last week signaled his intent to formalize the controversial change before the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. As a candidate, Obama campaigned against the measure in Montana, where local governments have complained of being blindsided by Rey's negotiating the policy shift behind closed doors with the nation's largest private landowner.

The shift is technical but has large implications. It would allow Plum Creek Timber to pave roads through Forest Service land. For decades, such roads were little more than trails used by logging trucks to reach timber stands.

But as Plum Creek has moved into the real estate business, paving those roads became a necessary prelude to opening vast tracts of the company's 8 million acres to the vacation homes that are transforming landscapes across the West.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/03/AR2009010301715.html?wprss=rss_politics%2Fadministration

[leftyclimber]

1. I have met Mark Rey twice and felt the uncontrollable urge to take a very long shower afterwards.

Both times.

That man is lower than whale shit. I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I was when he wasn't convicted.

Slimy little fucker. I hope he rots, along with the rest of those sonsabitches.

[depakid]

2. Yet another rule that needs to be undone- on the fast track

One gets the feeling that new appointees are going to be putting in a lot of overtime next year.

[PSPS]

3. A huge giveaway of national treasure, but there's no market anymore for "vacation homes"

[Frank Booth]

4. The forests will be so much nicer once they have paved roads, grass lawns,

swimming pools and houses that all look the same.

[caseymoz]

5. To think conservatives disown Bush !!!

The guy is a conservative to the core, a faithful de-regulator, who will try any means to advance the cause. His presidency failed horribly because he was a conservative ideologue who was un-swayed by facts. After all of his failures, he's still conservative to the core.