The Times has an article on the politics of Forest Fires. I find the administration policy silly, but one very positive note, is no one is debating that fire is essential to healthy forests anymore and that is a huge step forward. In the short term we need to do some maintenance to reduce extreme fire risks–not necessarily logging of the type Bush envisions, but in the longterm fire is essential to keeping forests healthy.
The press is rolling over for the administration on the claims concerning the number of projects stopped by lawsuits. This quote tells a very interesting story:
“Exactly how many fire treatment programs are snagged by citizen appeals is unclear. The General Accounting Office said in a report that fewer than 1 percent of fire prevention projects were delayed in such a way. The Bush administration says the number is closer to 50 percent, though that includes some logging plans that have little to do with fire prevention.
Joe Walsh, a spokesman for the Forest Service, said the agency did not know how many of the projects in the forests most in need of fire treatment had been blocked by appeal.”