I said "Semi" because while not directly affecting guns, it DOES affect hunting, let alone camping and hiking. We're going to end up on reservations just like the indians.
Nore that "roadless area" does not mean no new roards, it means closure of existing roads as well, as in the Jarbridge falp in Nevada.
http://www.nj.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0422_BC_ForestFight&&news&newsflash-washington
Senate nears showdown on Clinton roadless plan
By JOHN HUGHES
The Associated Press
7/10/00 1:40 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The fight between Western Republicans and environmentalists that has been looming since President Clinton announced a plan to protect 43 million acres of forests is about to begin.
The Senate this week is expected to take up a proposal by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, that would delay Clinton's plan until 60 days after a panel reviews the effort and submits a report to Congress.
Environmentalists say Craig's proposal is a thinly disguised attempt to put off the plan until Clinton leaves office, with the hope that Republican George W. Bush is elected and scraps the initiative.
Clinton is trying to use administrative rulemaking to prevent road building and other development on more than one-fifth of all federal forests. His plan, announced last October, sets broad criteria for logging, grazing and recreational activities, and leaves it up to local foresters to decide whether roads should be banned on parcels of 5,000 acres or less.
Environmentalists call the effort a crowning achievement of the Clinton presidency and one of the most important conservation moves of the last century.
But Western Republicans, timber companies and recreation interests say the move would unfairly limit access to public lands and hurt local economies. They denounce the rulemaking as an end run around Congress, since the plan can be implemented without lawmakers' approval.
Craig will offer an amendment to a $15.5 billion Interior Department spending bill would take $1 million from federal timber accounts to pay for an advisory committee to study the roadless initiative and another proposal that would dictate when new roads can be built.
Craig said such a committee needs to review the rulemakings to ensure they are done right and legally.
He and Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage, R-Idaho, have held hearings of the forest oversight subcommittees they chair to argue that private meetings between Clinton administration officials and environmentalists to discuss the roadless proposal before the initiative was announced violated laws governing open meetings.
"The environmental community behind closed doors convinced this administration to pump out a roads policy," Craig said. "What I do is simply reverse that process ... . I just cannot believe anyone serving in the U.S. Senate would condone a closed-door process."
While Craig and Chenoweth have been laying the groundwork for a challenge on Capitol Hill, Forest Service officials have continued with 400 planned public meetings nationwide on the draft of the roadless plan they unveiled in the spring.
A Forest Service spokesman said the meetings -- not more study -- are the best way to move forward.
"This represents to me a truly fascinating turn of events -- we're desperately seeking debate on the substance of an issue and others are relentlessly turning back to and arguing for more process," Chris Wood said.
Marty Hayden, legislative director of Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, said the Craig amendment would derail the public process with "hope that the next administration is less favorably disposed to protecting roadless areas."
Craig disagrees. One of his aides said Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman could quickly appoint the review panel and complete the study and roadless initiative before Clinton leaves office.
"Within reason, this is something that could be done promptly," said Mark Rey, a staffer at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Fights over environment-related amendments to spending bills -- so-called anti-environmental riders -- have been common during the Clinton years.
Thirteen spending bills, including the interior measure, must pass Congress each year to keep the government operating. Lawmakers in both parties view the bills as excellent vehicles for key policy changes.
Clinton has usually won the fights over environmental riders. Republicans last year attached a rider to the Interior bill to prevent oil companies from paying higher royalties for drilling on public land, but during budget talks Clinton forced the GOP to drop the idea.
Some riders have become law. Western Republicans in 1995 convinced Clinton to waive normal environmental protections and block citizen appeals of logging so dead and dying trees at risk of burning could be more quickly removed.
The public comment period on the proposed roadless plan closes July 17. Then, administration officials will start drafting a final rule that could be in place this fall, provided Craig's effort fails.
Copyright 2000 Associated Press.
Nore that "roadless area" does not mean no new roards, it means closure of existing roads as well, as in the Jarbridge falp in Nevada.
http://www.nj.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0422_BC_ForestFight&&news&newsflash-washington
Senate nears showdown on Clinton roadless plan
By JOHN HUGHES
The Associated Press
7/10/00 1:40 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The fight between Western Republicans and environmentalists that has been looming since President Clinton announced a plan to protect 43 million acres of forests is about to begin.
The Senate this week is expected to take up a proposal by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, that would delay Clinton's plan until 60 days after a panel reviews the effort and submits a report to Congress.
Environmentalists say Craig's proposal is a thinly disguised attempt to put off the plan until Clinton leaves office, with the hope that Republican George W. Bush is elected and scraps the initiative.
Clinton is trying to use administrative rulemaking to prevent road building and other development on more than one-fifth of all federal forests. His plan, announced last October, sets broad criteria for logging, grazing and recreational activities, and leaves it up to local foresters to decide whether roads should be banned on parcels of 5,000 acres or less.
Environmentalists call the effort a crowning achievement of the Clinton presidency and one of the most important conservation moves of the last century.
But Western Republicans, timber companies and recreation interests say the move would unfairly limit access to public lands and hurt local economies. They denounce the rulemaking as an end run around Congress, since the plan can be implemented without lawmakers' approval.
Craig will offer an amendment to a $15.5 billion Interior Department spending bill would take $1 million from federal timber accounts to pay for an advisory committee to study the roadless initiative and another proposal that would dictate when new roads can be built.
Craig said such a committee needs to review the rulemakings to ensure they are done right and legally.
He and Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage, R-Idaho, have held hearings of the forest oversight subcommittees they chair to argue that private meetings between Clinton administration officials and environmentalists to discuss the roadless proposal before the initiative was announced violated laws governing open meetings.
"The environmental community behind closed doors convinced this administration to pump out a roads policy," Craig said. "What I do is simply reverse that process ... . I just cannot believe anyone serving in the U.S. Senate would condone a closed-door process."
While Craig and Chenoweth have been laying the groundwork for a challenge on Capitol Hill, Forest Service officials have continued with 400 planned public meetings nationwide on the draft of the roadless plan they unveiled in the spring.
A Forest Service spokesman said the meetings -- not more study -- are the best way to move forward.
"This represents to me a truly fascinating turn of events -- we're desperately seeking debate on the substance of an issue and others are relentlessly turning back to and arguing for more process," Chris Wood said.
Marty Hayden, legislative director of Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, said the Craig amendment would derail the public process with "hope that the next administration is less favorably disposed to protecting roadless areas."
Craig disagrees. One of his aides said Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman could quickly appoint the review panel and complete the study and roadless initiative before Clinton leaves office.
"Within reason, this is something that could be done promptly," said Mark Rey, a staffer at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Fights over environment-related amendments to spending bills -- so-called anti-environmental riders -- have been common during the Clinton years.
Thirteen spending bills, including the interior measure, must pass Congress each year to keep the government operating. Lawmakers in both parties view the bills as excellent vehicles for key policy changes.
Clinton has usually won the fights over environmental riders. Republicans last year attached a rider to the Interior bill to prevent oil companies from paying higher royalties for drilling on public land, but during budget talks Clinton forced the GOP to drop the idea.
Some riders have become law. Western Republicans in 1995 convinced Clinton to waive normal environmental protections and block citizen appeals of logging so dead and dying trees at risk of burning could be more quickly removed.
The public comment period on the proposed roadless plan closes July 17. Then, administration officials will start drafting a final rule that could be in place this fall, provided Craig's effort fails.
Copyright 2000 Associated Press.