well, you see, there aren't any forests in tejas, and trees scare him, and...

December 13, 2002

Disregarding opposition in both houses of Congress, President Bush

announced a plan yesterday to expedite the cutting of trees and brush

in national forests by streamlining environmental reviews and

judicial oversight. Bush says the plan will help reduce fire danger,

but critics say last summer's wildfires merely provided the pretext

for permitting more logging on public lands, including commercially

valuable old-growth trees. The proposed plan would reduce the

ability of opponents to delay logging projects and would decrease the

amount of environmental impact information needed to approve

clear-cutting projects -- in some cases, from 200 pages to as little

as one page. Environmentalists strongly criticized the plan as

another example of Bush sacrificing the environment as a favor to

industries that are major Republican donors. The plan, which applies

to 10 national forests, will take effect after a 30-day public

comment period.

straight to the source: Washington Post, Mike Allen and Eric Pianin,

12 Dec 2002

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