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President calls for common sense in forest management
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| President Bush shakes hands with firefighters following a briefing on the wildfires during his visit to Redmond Thursday while accompanied by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., left. |
Bush handles burning issues
published August 22, 2003
By DYLAN DARLING
REDMOND - President Bush pointed to the fires and smoke obscuring the Three Sisters mountain peaks Thursday, and called for common sense in managing the nation's forests.
"All those firefighters know something that I've come to realize, that we can thin our forests, that we can use common-sense policy to make the fires burn less hot and protect our forests," Bush said.
The president spoke to about 600 people in Redmond, mostly Bush supporters who were given tickets to the event by Republican politicians from Oregon. Many in the crowd wore cowboy hats and ironed plaid shirts.
Thursday's visit was Bush's eighth trip to Oregon in four years, a state he barely lost to Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 election.
Bush wants to allow more thinning on national forest land, but environmentalists say this would open the door to full-scale logging and clear-cuts. Bush called for the support of environmentalists. He said the hot fires that burn because of the high amount of undergrowth destroy old-growth trees.
"They're so explosive in nature that hardly any tree can survive," he said.
Two fires in central Oregon forced Bush to change his travel plans. He had been scheduled to tour a forest near the Metolius River and give a speech at Camp Sherman.
Instead, he took a tour of the fires via helicopter. He then spoke at the Deschutes County Fair Grounds and Exposition Center. He described the flames, smoke and destruction he saw minutes before.
"It's the holocaust, it's devastating," he said.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, flew with Bush. Bush said he was honored to have the governor come with him.
"It should say loud and clear to everybody that preserving and protecting our forests is not a political issue, it is not a partisan issue, it is a practical issue that we must come together and solve," he said.
Kulongoski said he and the president agreed that something needs to be done. "There is no one in this state who doesn't understand that we have a very serious issue in the forestlands," he said.
He said he urged Bush to work with U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, in getting fire management changes passed and funded.
Also joining Bush on the air tour were Interior Department Secretary Gale Norton, Agriculture Department Secretary Anne Veneman and Environmental Quality Chairman James Connaughton. Bush said those three will be responsible for putting his Healthy Forest initiative into place.
"Their job is to cut through bureaucratic red tape to complete urgently needed thinning projects," he said.
Bush said the Congress should approve the Healthy Forest Restoration Act, which was co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon. The bill cleared the House last spring and got to the Senate just before its August recess.
A year ago, in Medford, Bush called for the same kind of forest management reform.
Josh Kardon, chief of staff for Wyden, said the two sides are in the same gridlock as last year. He said Bush's speech was more of the same.
"If the president wants progress, he knows he needs to meet Wyden and other open-minded Democrats halfway," he said.
Kardon said that Bush has spoken at length about the need for thinning but has neglected to say how to pay for the thinning.
Walden said he was confident that his bill would pass and said the president's speech and visit to Oregon will help.
"This will give us a big boost," he said. "When you have fires racing through an area we were supposed to visit, it only underscores the need to get this solved."
Tim Lillebo, eastern field representatives for the Oregon Natural Resources Council, said that while Bush said he wants to protect the forests from fire, there is no language in the initiative to protect it from the timber industry.
"Let's put it into law that they aren't going to cut old-growth trees," he said.
If the federal government did this, assured the public that it would get a chance to comment on thinning projects and put in other protections for the forests, then the administration and environmental groups could find common ground, Lillebo said.
published August 22, 2003
By DYLAN DARLING
REDMOND - President Bush pointed to the fires and smoke obscuring the Three Sisters mountain peaks Thursday, and called for common sense in managing the nation's forests.
"All those firefighters know something that I've come to realize, that we can thin our forests, that we can use common-sense policy to make the fires burn less hot and protect our forests," Bush said.
The president spoke to about 600 people in Redmond, mostly Bush supporters who were given tickets to the event by Republican politicians from Oregon. Many in the crowd wore cowboy hats and ironed plaid shirts.
Thursday's visit was Bush's eighth trip to Oregon in four years, a state he barely lost to Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 election.
Bush wants to allow more thinning on national forest land, but environmentalists say this would open the door to full-scale logging and clear-cuts. Bush called for the support of environmentalists. He said the hot fires that burn because of the high amount of undergrowth destroy old-growth trees.
"They're so explosive in nature that hardly any tree can survive," he said.
Two fires in central Oregon forced Bush to change his travel plans. He had been scheduled to tour a forest near the Metolius River and give a speech at Camp Sherman.
Instead, he took a tour of the fires via helicopter. He then spoke at the Deschutes County Fair Grounds and Exposition Center. He described the flames, smoke and destruction he saw minutes before.
"It's the holocaust, it's devastating," he said.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, flew with Bush. Bush said he was honored to have the governor come with him.
"It should say loud and clear to everybody that preserving and protecting our forests is not a political issue, it is not a partisan issue, it is a practical issue that we must come together and solve," he said.
Kulongoski said he and the president agreed that something needs to be done. "There is no one in this state who doesn't understand that we have a very serious issue in the forestlands," he said.
He said he urged Bush to work with U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, in getting fire management changes passed and funded.
Also joining Bush on the air tour were Interior Department Secretary Gale Norton, Agriculture Department Secretary Anne Veneman and Environmental Quality Chairman James Connaughton. Bush said those three will be responsible for putting his Healthy Forest initiative into place.
"Their job is to cut through bureaucratic red tape to complete urgently needed thinning projects," he said.
Bush said the Congress should approve the Healthy Forest Restoration Act, which was co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon. The bill cleared the House last spring and got to the Senate just before its August recess.
A year ago, in Medford, Bush called for the same kind of forest management reform.
Josh Kardon, chief of staff for Wyden, said the two sides are in the same gridlock as last year. He said Bush's speech was more of the same.
"If the president wants progress, he knows he needs to meet Wyden and other open-minded Democrats halfway," he said.
Kardon said that Bush has spoken at length about the need for thinning but has neglected to say how to pay for the thinning.
Walden said he was confident that his bill would pass and said the president's speech and visit to Oregon will help.
"This will give us a big boost," he said. "When you have fires racing through an area we were supposed to visit, it only underscores the need to get this solved."
Tim Lillebo, eastern field representatives for the Oregon Natural Resources Council, said that while Bush said he wants to protect the forests from fire, there is no language in the initiative to protect it from the timber industry.
"Let's put it into law that they aren't going to cut old-growth trees," he said.
If the federal government did this, assured the public that it would get a chance to comment on thinning projects and put in other protections for the forests, then the administration and environmental groups could find common ground, Lillebo said.
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| Basin's Bush backers make trip to cheer president |
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