Senate measure would ease thinning of US forests
Date: 12-Sep-02
Country: USA
The Interior spending bill amendment, which mirrors a plan offered last week by the Bush administration, would reduce environmental studies required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to speed the removal of dangerous underbrush and dead trees that serve as fuel in spreading wildfires.
It also would skirt the lengthy appeals process and prohibit judges from issuing a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to block a project from moving forward.
The legislation was introduced by Republican Sens. Larry Craig of Idaho and Pete Domenici of New Mexico.
A vote was expected sometime this week.
It remained unclear whether the measure would win support from the Democratic-controlled Senate. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle earlier this year endorsed a similar measure to thin trees in the Black Hills Forest of South Dakota, his home state.
Green groups said the amendment would further weaken already fragile environmental rules while catering to the interests of big timber companies who covet large trees.
"It makes a mockery of the judicial process," said Marty Hayden, legislative director for Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund. "It (eliminates) most environmental laws and locks out the public in order to protect logging," he said.
The Forest Service, a division of the U.S. Agriculture Department, has estimated that nearly 50 percent of all thinning projects are challenged in court.
The United States is bracing for one of its worst fire seasons in history. An estimated 6.4 million acres (2.6 million hectares) have burned this year, nearly double the 10-year average.
President George W. Bush said last week as he toured fire-ravaged forests in Oregon that "red tape and litigation" have left millions of acres of trees vulnerable to devastating wildfires.
Proponents of thinning to reduce the risk of wildfires contend that such practices are necessary to protect area residents.