From:
GREENLines, Tuesday January 27, 2004, Issue 2033
WILDLIFE SURVEYS AXED: "In an effort to increase the timber harvest,"
the Forest Service and BLM are planning to stop detailed surveys of
over 300 sensitive species such as fungi, lichens, mosses, plants,
snails and other animals associated with old growth forests says
Greenwire 1/22. Under a new supplemental EIS, the Survey and Manage
mitigation measures, instituted as part of the 1994 Northwest Forest
Plan, are deemed "redundant" and will be discontinued, despite protests
from conservationists who maintain they are vital to prevent future
endangerment. Further acquiescing to demands of the timber industry,
the Bush administration is also looking to revise the Aquatic
Conservation Strategy to eliminate review of "the specific, short-term
effects from logging on salmon-bearing streams."
FORESTS WITHOUT A FUTURE: The Bush administration has effectively
scrapped "a sweeping forest management plan" for Sierra Nevada national
forests that emphasized protecting forest communities from fires by
restoring ecosystems in favor of plan to "triple the amount of
logging" says the Contra Costa Times 1/23. According to the Sierra
Club the cynically named "Forests with a Future" management scheme will
result in "more logging and destruction of habitat" and a return to the
"bad old days of cutting in the Sierra Nevada."
And for those of you who enjoy visiting the Platte River during crane
migration,
PLATTE RIVER PLAN RELEASED: The federal government has released its
"preliminary blueprint" for managing the Platte River for threatened
and endangered species, including the whooping crane, interior least
tern, piping plover and pallid sturgeon says the Casper Star Tribune,
AP 1/23. The draft environmental impact statement seeks to provide
"long-term, cooperative solutions" among water users for sustaining
wildlife habitat in the river and "contains four options for restoring
river flows." The public can comment on the plan and a final EIS is due
in April. FYI: http://www.platteriver.org .
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