Bush's forest plans on hold

Bush's "Save the Forests by Cutting them Down" plan has been dealt a setback, as the 9th Appeals Court enforced a Clinton-era ban on new roads covering a third of the nation's forests.

The decision is mostly procedural -- a district court judge in Idaho had blocked the ban. The Appeals Court ruled to enforce the ban until the case could be heard on its merits.

Western logging interests, led by Idaho's attorney general, are pushing hard to rescind the ban:

Idaho Attorney General Al Lance said the state would ask the court to rehear the case since the rule could lead to "the spread of unnaturally severe wildfires, insect infestations and forest disease from the national forests to adjacent land."

So once again we have the "let's cut the forests down to save them" argument. Sigh...

It's a wonder forests were able to survive millions of years without logging roads, huh?

Posted December 13, 2002 09:59 AM | Comments (13)