Timber West - December 2002
In late October, the Bush administration announced it would seek public comment on a plan to relax environmental rules that require detailed surveys for forest life before the logging of federal lands in the Pacific Northwest. The plan would be to discontinue the "survey and manage" requirements currently part of the Northwest Forest Plan.
This change is part of a proposed lawsuit settlement -- a suit brought on by the Douglas Timber Operators and the American Forest Resource Council, challenging the survey rules which can take years to complete.
Although some environmentalists have claimed this is just another way to make it easier to log old growth trees, Forest Service spokesman Rex Holloway has tried to reassure the public that the administration is not trying to weaken environmental rules.