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--> --> Eco groups find little to cheer about By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Members of local conservation groups are decrying President Bush's support of a plan that would suspend environmental regulations to speed forest thinning projects. In his speech Thursday at the Jackson County Fairgrounds before invited guests, Bush said lawsuits are holding up wildfire fuels reduction work. He expressed his support for extending nationwide a provision that allows forest thinning in South Dakota without public notification, comment or rights of appeal. "Bush's agenda is designed to pay back his contributors in the timber industry, rather than bring people together around fuels reduction," George Sexton, conservation director for the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center in Ashland, said in reaction to the president's speech. "While he may think shutting the courthouse doors will get logs to the mill, it's not going to help us get better fuels reduction projects." Environmental groups said they support thinning of small diameter trees and prescribed burning near communities, but oppose cutting old growth trees in remote areas. Group members said public input leads to better fuels reduction projects, pointing to the Ashland Watershed Protection Project as an example. Following extensive public input, the Ashland Ranger District approved a plan for thinning in the Ashland Watershed which preserves large, fire-resistant trees while treating smaller material across a wider area. That project is funded through the National Fire Plan, rather than the sale of large, commercially valuable trees. Sexton said Bush should increase funding for the National Fire Plan, but is instead cutting $600 million from the plan, which was enacted after widespread fires in 2000. In his speech, Bush said he also wants Congress to enact legislation that would allow timber harvest to resume under the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. Brokered by former President Bill Clinton after court rulings halted many timber sales, the plan was intended to protect sensitive species and old growth while setting goals for timber harvest. However, harvest levels remain at a fraction of those goals. "He (Bush) wants to go back to the days of cutting old growth trees," Sexton said. "He's not interested in the science of fuels hazard reduction." While many of Bush's proposals met with applause from the audience, Tonya Graham, executive director for the Headwaters environmental group in Ashland, said she doesn't know of any members of the conservation community who were invited to hear the speech. Members of environmental groups, along with others, staged protests outside. "It's unacceptable not to allow the full community to hear his message," said Graham. "They just hand-picked people who are going to applaud for him. It's a sad day for democracy." Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing