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For Immediate Release
New Bush Administration Regulations Undermine Decades of sound Forest Management
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Bush Administration
today finalized new forest policy regulations that potentially open millions of
acres of national forests to logging and mining projects with little or no
attention given to the effect those projects would have on wildlife and the
environment. The regulations reverse decades of progress toward responsible
forest management and represent another serious blow, along with the Bush
Administration's "Healthy Forests Initiative," to sound management of the
public's 191 million acre national forest system.
"The President's
forest regulations are an early Christmas gift to the timber industry
masquerading as a government streamlining measure," said Rodger Schlickeisen,
President of Defenders of Wildlife. "This is all about opening more and more
forested lands to unsustainable logging with no regard for environmental
impact."
"The new regulations jeopardize important wildlife habitat and
put more species at risk of endangerment and extinction. They toss aside decades
of bipartisan consensus on forest protection and fly in the face of the
recommendations of hundreds of scientists and expert policy makers," continued
Schlickeisen.
Shortly after entering office, President Bush
suspended the rules for implementing the National Forest Management Act, which
had just been updated based on the advice of an independent, nonpartisan
Committee of Scientists. Early versions of the regulations contained numerous
specific recommendations by the American Forest and Paper Association, a timber
industry trade association, and ignored strong opposition from citizens,
scientists and Congress. During the public comment period on these rules, nearly
200,000 citizens urged their withdrawal. The Society for Conservation Biology
and 325 scientists from across the nation also urged the Bush administration to
withdraw its proposal. In June, 2004, 195 Members of the U.S. House of
Representatives voted in support of an amendment offered by Rep. Tom Udall
(D-NM) to block these new regulations.
"These new rules represent a win for the timber
industry and a loss for the nation's wildlife and natural resources. It's also a
loss for the public, which deserves a real voice in government decisions
affecting our environment," added Schlickeisen.
For more
information on these regulations, opposition from Congress, scientists and the
public, and Defenders' legal efforts, visit: Save National Forests.
###
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 480,000 members and supporters, Defenders is an effective voice for wildlife and habitat. To learn more about Defenders of Wildlife, please visit www.defenders.org.
