Copyright 2001 Associated Press
June 21, 2001
By PHILIP BRASHER, AP Farm Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - A former top lobbyist for the timber industry was nominated by President Bush on Thursday to an Agriculture Department post overseeing the Forest Service and land conservation programs.

Mark Rey has worked since 1995 as an adviser to Sen. Larry Craig (news - bio - voting record), R-Idaho, who fought Clinton administration efforts to restrict logging on public lands. Before that, Rey held several positions with forest industry groups, including the American Forest and Paper Association, where he was a vice president of forest resources.

If confirmed by the Senate, Rey would become USDA's undersecretary for natural resources and environment.

Craig called Rey ``one of the nation's foremost experts in the protection and management of forests.''

Marty Hayden, legislative director for the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, said he expected Rey to be an advocate for logging interests.

``Attempting to ensure that timber production has a leg up in the process is something that Mark has been doing his entire career and I assume that will continue in his role as undersecretary,'' Hayden said.

Rey's nomination comes as the Forest Service is considering scrapping a Clinton administration policy that requires giving environmental considerations priority over logging, recreation and other uses of the 155 national forests.

The agency also is working on revisions to a Clinton administration ban on road construction and most logging and mining on a third of all national forest land.

James Lyons, who held the USDA job during the Clinton administration, frequently clashed with congressional Republicans. At one point last year, the House voted to kill funding for his office. Error: Unable to read footer file.