Environmental extremists fan
forest fires
July 7, 2002 By Ben Nighthorse Campbell Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a Republican, is Colorado's senior U.S. senator. The Pueblo Chieftain Online The Pueblo Chieftain Newspaper Star-Journal Publishing Co. Post Office Box 4040 825 West Sixth Street Pueblo, Colorado 81003 719-544-3520 800-279-6397 To submit a Letter to the Editor: newsroom@chieftain.com As fires rage across Colorado, more and more acres are falling victim to the hungry flames. Unfortunately, during this time of crisis, lawsuits from environmental groups are still lobbed at the U.S. Forest Service, one right after another. Although these groups claim to want the best for our forests, they argue against sound forest management policies that would thin our forests, which are artificially dense due to more than 100 years of total fire suppression policies. Their frivolous lawsuits fan the fires. Fire is a natural part of forest ecosystems. However, fire in dense forests like we have out West results in long-term damage to the forest, communities and watersheds. Where nature would have 50 trees per acre, we now have 200, 500, sometimes even 800 trees per acre. On May 18, I held a field hearing in Golden to review how federal, state and local firefighting agencies coordinate to fight wildfires. I was pleased to learn that our state's level of coordination is a model for the rest of the nation. However, the lack of a sound management plan poses a high risk of unmanageable fires, like the ones we are experiencing. The science is certain: thinning forests to natural levels significantly reduces the threat of wildfires. At the same time, the constant threat of lawsuits from environmentalists has resulted in a near halt to fire management efforts. Instead of working toward the already enormous task of reducing unmanageable fires, the U.S. Forest Service is now forced to tailor its studies and assessments for proposed actions in anticipation of a hailstorm of lawsuits and appeals from those who purport to protect our forests. In fact, an estimated 40 percent of the U.S. Forest Service's work at the national forest level, about $250 million each year, is spent on extra analysis to insulate the forest service from future frivolous lawsuits. The worst part is that this obstruction-through-litigation strategy means furthering the goals of radicals. Every dollar that land management agencies are forced to spend litigating is one less dollar spent on proposed action, such as thinning. Environmental extremists acknowledge that our forests are unnaturally dense. Those who strongly oppose thinning the forest except when it immediately surrounds homes say thinning allows the timber industry to ravage our landscapes. They ignore the fact that industry thinning on national forests occurs under National Environmental Policy Act scrutiny. Many environmentalist organizations have effectively paralyzed responsible forest management practices. Seventy million acres of national forest are now at risk for severe wildland fires. In the West, more than half of the rangeland riparian area of the National Forest System does not meet standards for healthy watersheds. U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth recently acknowledged that the Hayman Fire would not have been nearly as severe had forest thinning projects gone forward. I am unwilling to allow our forests' health and environmental quality to continue deteriorating simply because a minority of environmental organizations are willing to risk safety in order to advance their own political agenda. I have joined with fellow senators to review what we can do to reduce fuel buildup and protect our homes, forests, and watersheds. Until we as a nation challenge the policies of extreme environmentalists, responsible forest management policies will remain blocked and our brave men and women fighting fires will face the same problem in future years. The facts speak for themselves. This is no time to fan fires, in the court or on the hillsides. |
