Dateline: 08/23/02

The Issue:
Hoping to prevent forest fires, President Bush has proposed reductions in federal logging regulations and speeding of environmental reviews required for removal of timber from U.S. forests in fire-prone areas.

Background:
During 2002 alone, forest fires in 11 Western states have burned almost 6 million acres of forest land and destroyed over 2,000 structures. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated for extended periods of times and 20 firefighters have died trying to suppress the fires.

As President Bush announced his plan, the Biscuit Fire, the largest forest fire in Oregon's recorded history, had consumed over 489,000-acres of forest and remained only 50 percent contained.

Attributing the increase in fire incidents to, "a century of well-intentioned but misguided land management," and warning that future fire seasons could be even worse unless policy changes were made. the White House announced the Healthy Forest Initiative.

According to a White House fact sheet, "Needless red tape and lawsuits delay effective implementation of forest health projects. This year's crisis compels more timely decisions, greater efficiency, and better results to reduce catastrophic wildfire threats to communities and the environment."

What the Initiative Would Do:
Under what it has titled the Healthy Forest Initiative, the Bush administration will:

• Significantly step up efforts to prevent the damage caused by catastrophic wildfires by reducing unnecessary regulatory obstacles that hinder active forest management;
• Work with Congress to pass legislation that addresses the unhealthy forest crisis by expediting procedures for forest thinning and restoration projects; and
• Fulfill the promise of the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan to ensure the sustainable forest management and appropriate timber production.

Noting that frequent "low-intensity" fires are important to a healthy forest, the Healthy Forest Initiative contends that a century of unquestioned suppression of all forest fires has resulted in "unnaturally dense" Western forests that, when subjected to seasonal droughts, become increasingly fire-prone. 

"Under normal conditions of forest and rangeland health," says the Initiative, "fires play a vital role in removing excess fuels and maintaining normal plant composition and density." 

"Needless red tape and lawsuits delay effective implementation of forest health projects," said a White House fact sheet on the initiative. "This year's crisis compels more timely decisions, greater efficiency, and better results to reduce catastrophic wildfire threats to communities and the environment."

• Healthy Forest : An Initiative for Wildfire Prevention and Stronger Communities 
  Read or download the entire proposal (.pdf file).

What Opponents Say:
Environmental advocacy groups oppose the policy changes, arguing that "active forest management" is simply the Bush administration's term for uncontrolled logging. They argue that the plan shows contempt for the environment, would result in an economic windfall for the timber industry, and have no positive effect in preventing forest fires.

"The truth is that waiving environmental laws will not protect homes and lives from wildfire. History and science clearly demonstrate that clearing fuels away from the immediate area around homes is the best protection," said William Meadows, president of the Wilderness Society.

Rather than promoting judicious thinning of lush forest undergrowth, opponents argue that reducing logging restrictions will allow timber companies to harvest older, larger trees of higher economic value.

"Instead, the primary impact [of the Bush plan] would be to increase logging of old-growth forests in the relatively moist western Cascades, where fuel reduction generally is not a management objective," asserts a Wilderness Society analysis.

• Wilderness Society's analysis of the Healthy Forest Initiative

What Forestry Experts Say:
While professional foresters agree that unchecked growth leads to fire-prone forests and that easing restrictions on logging in the name of fire prevention could have some merit, there is no such consensus on how plans like the Healthy Forest Initiative should be implemented.

• The ecosystems of individual forests are complicated and vary widely, with each forest requiring its own management plan.
• While thinning -- planned removal -- of small trees and undergrowth is basic to forest fire prevention, larger trees can spawn highly destructive "crown fires," with flames spreading rapidly from treetop-to-treetop. In forests prone to crown fires, thoughtful thinning of larger trees can be beneficial.
• A more aggressive policy of thinning widespread areas of national forests could overtax Forest Service personnel, preventing them from focusing their efforts on the most fire-prone forests.

Some foresters expressed fears that shortening the time required for federal approval of commercial logging projects will reduce the chance for the public and professional foresters to study and, if necessary, challenge those projects.

• About Forest Fire - The Good, Bad and Ugly
  Read an analysis of the importance of fire to forest health by About Guide to Forestry Steve Nix. "Our temperate world's forest ecosystem has developed with fire as its preeminent partner. This is as it should be."
  
  
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