Greenpeace Challenges Bush Plan to Curb Forest Fires
Washington, D.C., August 23, 2002 – President
Bush called a recent proposal to relax forest management
regulations a common sense approach to fighting the forest fires
that have spread across the Western part of the United States. But
what is sensible about a plan that will only add fuel to the fire?
Logging, along with global warming is one of the causes of these
forest fires so the question is, where’s the sense, common or
otherwise in President Bush’s forest agenda?
“Though President Bush says he wants to “thin the brush”, he in
fact just wants to clear the road for large timber companies to
engage in destructive logging of old growth trees,” said Jaya
Ramesh, Greenpeace Forest Campaigner. “This farce of a plan does
not address the forest fire problem but it does address the
interests of the timber industry.”
Natural and controlled forest fires are integral to the health
of all forests. They restore nutrients to the soil, create habitat
for fish and wildlife and help eliminate the smaller brush and
saplings that compete with the forests’ large and fire-resistant
trees. Allowing timber companies to cut down high-value timber–the
trees whose barks are thick enough to resist natural small fires
that sweep down through–does not come close to addressing the
problem of large damaging fires. In fact, it is the cause. Logging
companies have taken the most fire resistant trees by cutting down
old-growth trees, which has now created the current problem of
uncontrollable fires. What is needed is a forest management plan
that oversees controlled burning around communities and that
restores the natural dynamic of the eco-system.
“Instead of staying in bed with the
timber industry, President Bush needs to join other world leaders
at this year’s Earth Summit. There he can actually address real
solutions to environmental problems such as these forest fires, and
begin holding corporations accountable for destuctive actions as
opposed to promoting them.”
