Liberty
Matters News Service
October 22, 2003
Healhty Forests Hits Another Roadblock
Legislation to correct the severe mismanagement problems in the nation's
forests may not be approved in time to get ready for next year's fire season.
Last week, a bipartisan group of senators agreed on compromise language in
hopes of satisfying the complaints of critics. Those hopes were dashed Monday,
when two senators, Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) blocked the
negotiations. Bill Wicker, Bingaman's spokesman said; "We're not trying to be
obstructionists," but adds Bingaman objects to provisions in the House-passed
version that eliminates costly administrative appeals to critical thinning
projects. Environmentalists criticize the legislation as a "give-away to the
timber industry," and Tom Harkin's spokeswoman, Allison Dobson labels the
Healthy Forests Restoration Act "deeply controversial." Rep. Scott McInnis
(R-CO), the bill's sponsor, is disgusted by the delay and stated in a press
release; "[M]ake no mistake; the sustained delay that this bipartisan bill has
experienced in the Senate could make it impossible for our land managers to use
these new tools before the next fire season. Americans who live in harm's way
and who love their forests should be outraged."
Senators Stall Forest Thinning Bill
Spotted Owl May Go Extinct Anyway
Despite years of deceit and
legal efforts by environmentalists to ban logging in northwest forests to save
the spotted owl, scientists say the birds may be headed for extinction anyway.
Scientists believe barred owls have taken over the spotted owl territory and
the survivors may have fled. "Natural systems are pretty unpredictable," said
Eric Forsman, U.S, Forest Service biologist. "When you set about trying to
manage a particular species there are lots of things that can happen that are
unplanned." Author Ron Arnold said the concession vindicates the loggers who
all along proclaimed their innocence. "You can't turn nature into a museum even
though environmentalists try." Arnold also noted that "more than 22,000 logging
jobs vanished [because of the owl fiasco]." The jobs and the towns destroyed
are likely gone forever, but "environmentalists refuse to give an inch." No
matter, say the environmentalists, if it's too late for the spotted owl then
they will demand the forests remain closed to protect something else. They
claim the timber industry won't bother to fight this time (because most are out
of business). It is more economically feasible to import lumber from foreign
countries with cheap labor and fewer ridiculous environmental regulations - the
types of protections that activists promised would save the spotted owl.
Spotted Owls Endangered by
Logging or Nature?
Pronghorn Antelope Safe With Military
Ever
since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service capitulated to the Defenders of
Wildlife over habitat for the Sonoran pronghorn antelope six years ago, the
U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Marine Corps have been forced to take special care
of those animals on the Barry M. Goldwater Range in Arizona. The Air Force has
employed spotters to locate the antelope before its pilots practice bombing
runs. Air Force Col. James Uken, the Range's management officer, said that
about seven percent of the runs have been scrubbed because of the pronghorn's
presence. Both military branches provide extra money for studies and support,
including thousands of dollars to drill wells in a nearby wildlife refuge "to
irrigate plots of forage for the animals whose population has been decimated by
drought," added Uken. Ron Pearce, civilian manager of the Marine Corps' 692,000
acre share of the Range, said the Corps has spent about $750,000 on pronghorn
recovery. "[W]e did it because it was the right thing to do…" And, guess
what, now the environmental activists want more land and they are using the
plight of the desert animals once again. The Arizona Bighorn Sheep Society and
the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance Foundation have petitioned Interior Secretary
Norton to intercede on behalf of the bighorn sheep and other wildlife in the
Sonoran Desert National Monument in Arizona. Environmentalists, including the
Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club have threatened to sue the
Bureau of Land Management and the Arizona Game and Fish Department to prevent
them from restoring desert waterholes in the monument. An Interior Board of
Land Appeals administrative law judge ordered the agencies to cease efforts to
restore the water sources, ruling the "maintenance effort would irreparably
harm the aesthetic interests of the plaintiffs." Forget the animals and their
plight. The Bighorn Sheep Society and the Sportsman Alliance want Norton to
overrule the judge's ruling because the wildlife cannot wait for rain. In a
letter to Norton, they claim; "[T]heir very survival depends upon prompt
resolution of this matter."
Military Coexists with
Endangered Pronghorn
Arizona Group Seeks Help for Desert Wildlife
Voluntary Grazing Buyout Bill Introduced
SAN
FRANCISCO (AP) - Politics make strange bedfellows.
Reps. Chris Shays (R-CT) and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) have formally introduced H.R.
3324, their "Voluntary Grazing Buyout Act." The cosponsors hope to wave enough
federal dollars in front of drought-beleaguered, over-regulated ranchers to
entice them to relinquish their grazing rights. The plan would pay permit
holders $175 per animal unit and the requested authorization of $100 million
would be enough to cleanse 7.8 million federal acres of domestic livestock,
backers claim. "Buying out federal grazing permits is good for western states
and the entire nation," said East coast grazing expert, Shays. The plan was
concocted by the National Public Lands Grazing Campaign and endorsed by 200
environmental groups, including the Sierra Club.
Federal Grazing Buyout
Legislation Introduced