House Passes Fatally Flawed Wildfire Bill, Groups Say

5/20/2003

From: Chris Mehl of The Wilderness Society, 406-581-4992 (Additional contacts are listed below.)

WASHINGTON, May 20 -- The following statement on House passage of the "Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003" was released today by the following organizations: Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, Earthjustice, American Lands, Natural Resources Defense Council, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Alaska Coalition, National Environmental Trust, and Defenders of Wildlife:

Legislation approved this afternoon by the U.S. House of Representatives represents a major blow to Western communities who are looking to Congress for help in protecting themselves from the threat of wildfire. House supporters of the "Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003" (HR 1904) exploited the fear of fire to pass a provision that directly benefits the timber industry -- while doing almost nothing to help the communities threatened by fire.

The McInnis bill is flawed in three fundamental ways:

-- It fails to focus on protecting communities located adjacent to wild forest lands. Instead, it would facilitate logging projects that help only the timber industry. -- It is based on false assumptions about the impact of environmental reviews and legal appeals of fuel reduction projects. Three independent reviews have now concluded that the vast majority of fuel reduction projects proceed in a timely manner, even when questions are raised by citizens, industry, recreation groups, conservationists or other interested parties. -- It unnecessarily weakens environmental protections and the fundamental right of the public to participate in forest planning on taxpayer-owned lands.

"The Bush Administration and allies in Congress are trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist while ignoring the immediate need to protect communities from fire," said Carl Pope, Sierra Club executive director. "Today they failed to give America a sound vision for forest management that protects homes and lives."

"Keeping people safe and protecting homes must be the first and most important priority for any wildfire policy," said Michael Francis, director of the National Forest Program at The Wilderness Society. "Unfortunately, the President's wildfire bill cynically uses the emotion of wildfires to promote an agenda that science and research have repeatedly shown have no merit and little to do with wildfire safety."

In passing the McInnis bill, the House of Representatives ignored concerns raised by dozens of groups and individuals, including REP America, the national grassroots organization of Republicans for Environmental Protection, National Organization for Women, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, League of Conservation Voters, and more than 50 county commissioners and other local officials from across the nation.

"The House turned its back on common sense when it defeated the Miller-DeFazio amendment and passed the McInnis bill," said Marty Hayden, legislative director for Earthjustice, the nation's largest non-profit environmental law firm. "The Miller bill would have focused the Forest Service's scarce resources where they belong-protecting homes and communities. The McInnis bill will allow the timber industry to go galloping across the American landscape."

The U.S. Senate is expected to take up the bill in late June or early July.

"Even though the House has passed a logging bill that ignores homes and communities at risk, the Senate still has an opportunity to provide these protections," said Robert Vandermark of the National Environmental Trust. "Scarce federal funding should be directed around homes and communities where it is needed most, instead of giving a green light to timber companies to log our national forests."

"Instead of protecting communities at risk, the McInnis bill weakens environmental protections, restricts the public's right to seek redress in the courts, provides additional subsidies to the timber industry, and cuts the public out of the process," said Tiernan Sittenfeld, U.S. PIRG Conservation Advocate. "We urge the Senate to move in a different direction by ensuring protection for at-risk communities."

CONTACTS: Annie Strickler, Sierra Club, 202-675-2384 Chris Mehl, The Wilderness Society, 406-581-4992 Cat Lazaroff, Earthjustice, 202-667-4500 ext. 213 Craig Noble, Natural Resources Defense Council, 415-777-0220 Brad Devries, Defenders of Wildlife, 202-682-9400 ext. 237 Jennifer Coate, National Environmental Trust, 202-887-8855 Tiernan Sittenfeld, U.S. PIRG, 202-546-9707 ext. 311 Anne Martin, American Lands, 509-624-5657