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Date:         Mon, 5 Feb 2007 17:01:17 -0500
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From: Sean Cosgrove <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Forest Service Budget Calls for Land Sales, Again
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 5, 2007

CONTACT:
Eric Antebi 415-977-5747
Sean Cosgrove 202-675-2382


             Forest Service Budget Calls for Land Sales, Again

    Recreation, Wildlife Funding Goes Down While Timber Subsidies Go Up

Washington, DC - Today the Bush administration released a proposed FY2008
Budget for the U.S. Forest Service, which would require the agency sell
land holdings in order to pay for many basic conservation and recreation
programs.  The agency also came under fire for wanting to make double digit
cuts in funding for recreation and wildlife programs while also pushing to
increase subsidies for commercial timber sales.

Specifically, the draft budget includes language that would require the
Forest Service to raise $800 million through land sales and use half of the
proceeds for payments to states and half for land acquisition and other
programs such as "conservation education, access to public lands, habitat
improvement and to cover the administrative costs of disposal."  A similar
proposal last year met with strong bipartisan opposition from state and
federal lawmakers as well as hunting, fishing, and other recreation and
conservation groups.  To view the official list of potentially eligible
lands for sale by the Forest Service, go to:
http://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/spd.html

The Forest Service has also been under fire for a proposal to close
thousands of campgrounds, boat launches, and picnic areas, and while the
agency has promised to seek public input before making final decisions, the
budget proposal reflects the administration's desire to pay for core
programs in part by closing facilities.

Also buried in the budget proposal is language that would significantly
increase subsidies for commercial timber harvesting.  The Forest Service
aims to increase timber production by over half a billion board feet more
than the previous year, almost doubling the timber output in the Northwest
alone.   Overall, timber subsidies are about the only program to see any
increase in funding- costing taxpayers roughly $408 million.  Meanwhile,
the Forest Service has proposed an 11% funding decrease for both
"recreation, wilderness and heritage" and "wildlife and fish management."

In response, the Sierra Club issued the following statement from Executive
Director Carl Pope:

"Our National Forests are an important part of our national heritage and
they belong to all Americans, including future generations.  The Bush
administration has no business auctioning them off to the highest bidder
for a short term fix.

"There is no reason why the most powerful nation in the world should have
to sell off its public parks and forests to pay for core programs that
allow people to hunt, fish, and hike and protect sources of clean water.
The only explanation is reckless mismanagement and misplaced priorities.

"Rather than selling off or shutting down its core assets, the Forest
Service should pull the plug on costly subsidies to the timber industry.
If the agency is so desperate that it must sell off its land holdings and
close campgrounds, it certainly has no business continuing, let alone
increasing, subsidies for commercial timber production.   Eliminating that
wasteful spending would help to Forest Service focus more on stewardship
and less on selling public land."

***

To read the proposed FY2008 Forest Service Budget, go to:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy08/pdf/appendix/agr.pdf

To view the official list of potentially eligible lands for sale by the
Forest Service, go to:
http://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/spd.html


                                    ###

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