Radical Environmental Appeals Add Fuel To Forest Fires

GAO study finds that environmental groups block projects focused on protecting homes and families from the horror of wildfire 
 
Washington, DC - Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA) and members of the House Resources Committee expressed outrage over the findings of a General Accounting Office (GAO) study concluding that 52% of appealable thinning projects proposed near communities were delayed by environmental organization appeals in 2001 and 2002.

The report listed 7 environmental groups responsible for the overwhelming number of administrative appeals against wildfire prevention efforts, a list that includes the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, Oregon Natural Resources Council, and the Forest Conservation Council.  Overall, the report found that 59% of all appealable wildfire mitigation projects were in fact challenged during the two year period, principally by environmental litigators.

Most startling, however, was the fact that environmental groups are more often than not challenging even those thinning projects focused on saving communities from the horrors of catastrophic wildfire.  The finding flies in the face of environmentalist contentions that they support thinning where the purpose is to protect homes and communities. 

Not surprising was the fact that most environmental challenges were thrown out as being without merit.  Of the 180 wildfire mitigation projects appealed during the studied period, the reviewing officer "reversed" the decisions of a subordinate officer on only 19 occasions (10%).  This finding affirms the suspicion of many - namely, that administrative appeals are often frivolous objections by organizations with a philosophical bent against active forest management.  Unfortunately, when the threat of wildfire is imminent or a large-scale insect outbreak is underway, a months-long delay during the consideration of an administrative appeal is just as damaging to the Forest Service as a defeat on the merits.

Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA) Statement
 
"This finding is nothing short of appalling, especially when you think of the catastrophic losses suffered in last year's horrific fire season alone.  These were not only losses of forest, endangered species, and wildlife habitat; they were losses of human life and family property.   

Fanatics have often been described as people who redouble their efforts after losing sight of their goals.  This study's irrefutable statistics prove that the so-called environmental organizations in America have come to embody such a definition.  Clearly, these groups are more interested in preserving a political scare tactic than they are in conserving our forests and the environment for future generations.   

I hope this study serves as a wake-up call to the American people that radical environmental rhetoric serves a political purpose, not an environmental cause.  This Congress is about to debate a bill that uses sound science, common sense, and 21^st Century technology to bring our forests back to good health.  It will help prevent the catastrophic fires that devastate our environment and our communities in a comprehensive, balanced fashion.   

As we approach the start of yet another fire season, I call on these organizations to focus on the goal, stop appealing projects designed to protect communities, and help us pass a law that is so desperately needed."   

Congressman Scott McInnis (R-CO) Statement
 
"After all of the environmental spin about focusing projects on protecting communities, now we find that environmental groups are aggressively challenging community protection projects too. Actions speak louder than words.  If we can't thin over stocked forests to protect homes, where, I wonder, can we?"

Congressman Rick Renzi (R-AZ) Statement
 
"As the dry summer season approaches and fire risks reach extreme levels, the endless appeals to Forest Service hazardous fuel reduction projects endanger residents and their property in rural Arizona.  Local communities, who have been blocked in their efforts to thin urban interface areas, have even gone so far as to ask the Governor to declare their forests Federal disaster areas to bypass the appeals obstacle.  The Healthy Forests Restoration Act will mitigate these issues and streamline the appeals process, helping to protect and preserve our Forests."

Congressman Jim Gibbons (R-NV) Statement
 
"This GAO report is yet more evidence that we need sensible forest management policies...although watching millions of acres of our precious forests turned into charcoal last year should have been evidence enough.  No one wants to clear cut our forests.  On the contrary, what we want to do is to protect them from devastating fires.  The bottom line is, as the GAO states, the legal hurdles and delays caused by radical environmental groups are endangering our forests as well as our communities, property, and ecosystems.  It is time to pass the Healthy Forests bill to protect our forests and communities from wildfire now, before millions more acres burn."

Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA) Statement
 
"This report illustrates how some radical environmental groups are actually endangering our treasured forests and delicate ecosystems by hampering reasonable efforts to reduce the occurrence of catastrophic wildfires," "We saw this at work in my own district last year as the McNally wildfire tore through 150,000 acres of Sequoia and Inyo National Forests and threatened several groves of ancient, giant sequoias."

Congressman Ken Calvert (R-CA) Statement
 
"In 1993 the Winchester fire devastated communities in my district because of bad rules on managing our forests.  My district now faces similar circumstances as insect infestation is killing trees and another dry season is upon us.  Now, more than ever, we need the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 in order to protect both our forests and communities."

Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-MT) Statement
 
"Local forests cannot be managed from a courtroom.  We need to suppress the litigious fires if we want to protect communities from wildfires."

Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) Statement
 
"The GAO report confirms what those of us in Colorado have known for a long time; that the frivolous appeals of so-called environmental groups are one of the primary impediments to restoring the health of our ailing National Forests and protecting at-risk communities.  This study underscores how cumbersome the current Forest Services bureaucratic gridlock truly is, and refutes once and for all the meritless arguments of those who would have us believe that there is nothing wrong with the status quo."