Though environmentalists feared the worst when
President Clinton signed a controversial timber-salvage law this
summer, the Forest Service told them not to worry: The agency would
take every precaution to protect the environment. A memo sent to
regional foresters Sept. 21 from the agency’s headquarters in
Washington, D.C., suggests otherwise.
Citing a
lack of government employees who know how to prepare timber sales,
the memo encourages regional offices “to take advantage of
assistance offered by the timber industry. They have indicated they
are more than willing to make suggestions, go in the field with
your people, and provide input which will help achieve our
objectives.”
Logging critics were outraged. “It
amounts to an admission that the public no longer has national
forests – the timber industry does,” said John Gatchell of the
Montana Wilderness Association.
“I can tell you
how I would read that when it came to me,” said Ernie Nunn, former
supervisor of the Helena National Forest in Montana. “It’s a
license to steal.”
The memo’s author, David
Hessel, director of the Forest Service’s timber management program,
stressed it was not meant to override environmental concerns or
public involvement. Hessel said it applies to technical advice,
such as how to log steep slopes. – Warren Cornwall
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Just ask the loggers.
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