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For Immediate Release
Bush Administration Proposes Recasting Decades of Forest Policy for the Timber Industry
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration today proposed a radical and sweeping rewrite of the forest policy that has governed the nation since shortly after passage of the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) reform legislation in 1976. The changes would eliminate or seriously weaken vital safeguards for all of America’s 155 national forests, allowing reckless logging by timber-industry profiteers and the destruction of habitat for many species of wildlife.
The proposed new NMFA regulations are substantially identical to at least eight major recommendations made by the American Forest and Paper Association, according to Defenders of Wildlife.
"This outrageous proposal is the biggest turkey of this Thanksgiving," said Defenders of Wildlife President Schlickeisen. "Decades ago, Congress recognized that planning, public involvement, scientific input, clear standards for ecological sustainability, and effective ongoing monitoring and analysis were the keys to sound conservation in our national forests. This proposal eliminates the most meaningful requirements and substitutes agency discretion, reduces public involvement, all but eliminates scientific oversight, and is a clear abuse of the regulatory process for the benefit of the timber industry. After months of waiting, the administration has timed this environmental attack to come out quietly on the week of Thanksgiving in a transparent attempt to sneak it past the media and the public."
"This administration hears only one voice, that of its friends in the timber industry who want to saw down our national forests without worrying about the needs of wildlife, the environment or the public," Schlickeisen said. "But the national forests belong to all Americans, not just the administration’s corporate supporters in the timber industry."
An analysis by Defenders of Wildlife shows that the administration’s proposal mirrors the timber industry’s agenda as stated in testimony and comments by the American Forest and Paper Association. In particular, the draft regulations: eliminate ecological sustainability as the priority of the Forest Service; eliminate protections for wildlife, eliminate scientific oversight of agency actions; and eliminate most mandatory standards for forest managment.
Since their promulgation in 1979, the NFMA regulations have provided a strong benchmark for measuring whether the Forest Service was maintaining biological diversity in national forests. One of the most important regulations – the "population viability" rule – required the Forest Service to maintain the viability of native species of wildlife in each national forest. That provided a clear yardstick for assessing the impact of logging on wildlife conservation and on forest ecosystem health.
In a 2000 revision of the regulations, the agency developed specific procedures for monitoring wildlife populations and rigorously monitoring representative species. The new proposed regulations would do away with that approach, making surveying of wildlife merely optional.
The regulations would also undermine application of the National Environmental Policy Act to national forests by allowing a much less stringent analysis of environmental impacts than currently permitted. It’s the administration’s most direct attack yet on that law – the Magna Carta of U.S. environmental protections.
Mark Rey, undersecretary for natural resources and environment in the Agriculture Department, is clearly behind this latest administration assault on the environment, Schlickeisen said. Rey, the political appointee in charge of overseeing the Forest Service and our national forests, has dedicated his career to advancing the special-interest agenda of the timber industry. For 18 years, Rey was a top lobbyist for Big Timber, working for various industry groups including the American Forest and Paper Association.
Despite repeated requests from Defenders of Wildlife, Bush administration officials have withheld most of their records related to suspending and rewriting these regulations and any meetings or contacts with the timber industry on this issue. Defenders of Wildlife filed a federal lawsuit last month seeking those records.
"Protection of our national forests and their essential wildlife habitat is taking a back seat to Mark Rey’s efforts to maximize timber-cutting on public lands," Schlickeisen said. "Defenders of Wildlife will fight this all the way. If wildlife can’t survive in our national forests, then where can they? Maintaining native wildlife species should be a basic requirement of all public land management."
The Bush administration’s rewrite of the national forest management regulations is in marked contrast to the previous revision of these same regulations, which took place from 1997 to 2000. That process entailed extensive involvement of the public and the scientific community during a dozen public meetings held across the nation. Most important, the 2000 regulations were based on the recommendations of an independent committee of scientists. Similar scientific panels have guided every rewrite of the NFMA regulations since 1979. This administration’s rewrite was conducted by political appointees, without public or open scientific input.
The National Forest Management Act of 1976 governs management of all 192 million acres of national forests and requires forest plans for each of the 155 national forests and 22 national grasslands. National forests harbor much of the nation’s biological diversity – they are home to more than 3,000 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, and amphibians, and more than 10,000 plant species, including 17 percent of federally endangered and threatened species and more than 2,000 species designated as sensitive. National Forests have significantly more intact populations of rare species than any other system of public lands.
For more information see National Forests.
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Defenders of Wildlife is one of the nation’s most progressive advocates for wildlife and habitat, and was named as one of America’s Top 100 Charities by Worth magazine. With more than 430,000 members and supporters, including nearly 100,000 in California, Defenders is an effective voice for the environment. To learn more about Defenders of Wildlife, please visit www.defenders.org.
