As the landscape managed by the United States Forest Service has more than tripled in acreage since the agency’s creation 100 years ago, this Administration has ushered in an era of shutting the public out of the process of managing their publicly owned forests, declared U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV).
"As the Forest Service celebrates its 100th birthday, it is important for the agency to return to its responsibility to listen to the public in its decision making process. These forests are owned not just by those that use them for business or recreational purposes, but by all Americans," stated Rahall, the Ranking Democrat on the House Resources Committee which has jurisdiction over National Forest lands.
In January, speaking to the 2005 Forest Service Centennial Congress, Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth said, "At this historic moment, I see a real opportunity to renew a national dialogue on the conservation idea."
Yet since this speech, Bosworth has announced sweeping Administration forest management policies that cut the public out of the process.
The Forest Service is expected to finalize rules this summer that would allow the National Environmental Policy Act, the mechanism for the public to voice its opinion on government actions, to be ignored when forest management plans are revised. These plans serve as guides for forest management practices for at least ten years into the future.
U.S. Rep. Tom Udall (D-NM), the Ranking Member of the Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee, said, "Forest management plans provide the blueprint for how lands that are adjacent to many Americans’ backyards are cared for in the long term. To cut the public out of that process strikes me as undemocratic and against all that the Forest Service stood for 100 years ago."
In May 2005, the Forest Service rescinded the widely popular "roadless rule", which was established in 2001 to protect about one-third of the acreage in National Forests from most logging and road building. The agency ignored nearly 4 million comments from people opposed to the Administration’s plan.
"This Administration has participated in a one-sided dialogue when revising the roadless rule. And the Forest Service is also contending with a $10 billion road maintenance backlog, that will likely be exacerbated by this new policy," said Rahall.
Rahall is referring to maintenance upkeep and improvement needs on the 380,000 miles of current roads in the National Forests. While originally built for timber harvesting, these roads now serve as vital arteries for rural America, linking small towns and businesses. The mileage in this system is double the number of miles in the entire National Highway System.
![[New for the Democrats - Committee on Resources - U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, Ranking Democrat - 1329 Longworth HOB - Washington, DC 20015]](news_banner.gif)
