Protect Tongass Forest
Copyright 2000 The Kansas City Star
December 10, 2000
The U.S. Forest Service's plan to end timber cutting and road building in about 60 million acres of national forest is much improved over a draft version released in May.
The proposed plan, which is yet to be adopted by the president, sets aside uncleared forest land and protects it from the logging industry and from road construction except under certain conditions.
Improvements over the May draft include the prohibition against not only road-building but also logging in the designated areas, which amount to about one-third of the national forests.
This plan would protect not only forests and animal habitat but also the taxpayers who pay millions of dollars annually in subsidies to the timber industry. However, a couple of conditions in the proposal remain troubling.
One is that the Tongass National Forest in Alaska is exempted from the protections until 2004. Between now and then, timber contracts can be let and executed that are binding for years to come, causing the felling of many more trees in what is the last old-growth, temperate rain forest in the world.
Aside from the wisdom of causing lasting environmental damage to this forest that is the habitat for grizzly and black bears, bald eagles and rare wolves, there is the issue of the cost to taxpayers. Americans already spend nearly $27 million each year in subsidies related to the Tongass. They shouldn't be required to spend millions more.
The other problem with this plan is its loopholes. Roads could be built through unspoiled forests - if needed - for public safety, preservation of property rights, and reduction of the risks of wildfires. Some of those loopholes could become big enough to drive several logging trucks through - for many miles.
While the administration is right that the plan would protect endangered and threatened species, improve streams and keep some of the most beautiful areas of the forest intact for more friendly public use, some of these loopholes should be closed.
The Tongass needs protection now, not several years into the future. A solid plan signed before the president leaves office would help to reduce tinkering in the future. The next president would find it less easy to change a direction in forest protection if it were already in effect when he took office, rather than delayed for three years.