Bush's solution to the global warming problem... destroy the forests and drill for more oil.

You must be glad we will have such a brilliant president. I'm sure your children will thank you for destroying the planet and shortening their lives.

******

Change in the wind for Forest Service

By Bob Berwyn

enn.com

The new Republican administration in Washington, D.C., is likely to usher in major changes for the U.S. Forest Service, starting at the top and working down.

USFS Chief Mike Dombeck, who moved from the Bureau of Land Management to the USFS during the Clinton administration, will probably be replaced, observers say. Dombeck was brought in to help speed the agency’s shift away from timber-harvesting.

Most observers believe the team under president-elect George W. Bush will be more receptive to the needs of extractive industries, including logging, mining, oil, gas and coal interests. That could have profound implications for the 191 million acres of USFS land across the country, especially in western states.

With a $3 billion annual budget, the USFS administers 399 wilderness areas; 133,087 miles of hiking, horse and off-highway vehicle trails; 383,000 miles of authorized roads and more than 4,300 campgrounds.

Dombeck spearheaded several controversial initiatives, including a move to protect remaining USFS roadless areas. During his term, the agency also adopted a natural resource agenda as well as a new set of forest planning regulations.

"The question is, will he go quietly or will he be dragged out kicking and screaming?" asked Andy Stahl, executive director of the nonprofit Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, a whistle-blower advocacy and watchdog group with 500 USFS employees in its membership.

The USFS is run by the Department of Agriculture, and the agency chief answers to the Undersecretary of Agriculture, a political appointee.

Stahl says a likely replacement for Jim Lyons, who now holds the position, is Doug Crandall, chief of staff for the House Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health chaired by USFS critic Helen Chenoweth-Hage. Crandall previously represented timber interests as a lobbyist.

A new chief could appoint regional foresters who favor resource extraction in tandem with Bush's agenda. The president-elect is on record as opposing the national roadless initiative and favoring increased access for oil and gas drilling.

Some observers expect the USFS to take an about-face on some of its recent pro-environment initiatives, including the roadless plan.

"Turning the freighter won’t be that hard," Stahl said, explaining that more than half the agency’s managers are still predisposed toward logging. "It’s just a matter of returning the agency to it’s original mission of logging."

http://sports.yahoo.com/m/environmental/news/enn/20010104/ennchangeinthewindforforests.html

-- (you asked for it @ you. got it), January 05, 2001

Answers

Hmmmm....I musta missed the part about Bush's extensive plans to destroy the environment.

ROFLMAO!

Typical screaming, teeth gnashing, the sky is falling, bleeding heart LIBERAL.

You really need to get a grip. He hasn't even taken office yet and you are orbiting Pluto.

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), January 05, 2001.

Hmmmm....I musta missed the part about Bush's extensive plans to destroy the environment. ROFLMAO!

Typical screaming, teeth gnashing, the sky is falling, bleeding heart LIBERAL.

You really need to get a grip. He hasn't even taken office yet and you are orbiting Pluto.

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), January 05, 2001===================

At least that's better than having *those* things in orbit around Uranus!

-- it is happening (right.here@right_now.com), January 05, 2001.

"you asked for it"--

Very happy, thank you so much for asking.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), January 05, 2001.

"you asked for it",

Well, kinda happy. I won't be REALLY happy until a Tax Cut comes through.

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), January 05, 2001.

"You must be glad we will have such a brilliant president. I'm sure your children will thank you for destroying the planet and shortening their lives." Absofuckinlutely! Global warming is just as unfounded as Y2K doom and gloom. It's about time we had someone in office who thought so billiantly.

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), January 05, 2001.

Wow Maria, I've never seen the F word used in that manner.

Too funny

-- sumer (shh@aol.con), January 05, 2001.

You don't know anything about our timber resources or you wouldn't be raisin such a whiny fuss. I live in Idaho and I am around logging and every aspect that goes with it. Proper logging techniques are the norm in the Northwest and good reforestation habits have been used for many years. These areas that were even logged in the forties are now ready in many locations for extensive harvesting. They are reseeded with native grasses for cover and in many cases planted back to species adaptable to the area. The logging roads are kellyhumped,ditched, and prepared so they are non accessible to the public in many cases. Millions of acres of back-country are all ready declared Wilderness Area as of now.

-- Boswell (fundown@thefarm.net), January 05, 2001.

Sumer, you're not from the east coast are you? :)

Have you ever watched the Sapranos (HBO)? Well, that's the kind of talk I "learned" growing up. The F word was inserted into every imaginable syllable in a sentence. It made things very "colorful" :)

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), January 05, 2001.

I be stayin in Cleveland OHio maria.

I am not shocked by the F word, I use it tooo much myself, but my resolution was to cut back (yeah right, its NOT working)

But, I thought the way you used it was tooo funny :-)

R U in new york?

-- sumer (shh@aol.con), January 05, 2001.

Well said Boswell. The doomer mentality takes a twist when it comes to the enviornmental. I remember the argument that corps wouldn't let a y2k catastrophe happen because they'd be out of biz. Same applies to forest harvesters but a tougher sell to this more entrenched crowd.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), January 05, 2001.