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Wildlife fund worker discounts agency 'ado' Roadless area memo to foundation talked of influencing Forest Service By PAUL FATTIG ASHLAND -- Dominick DellaSala says it's much ado about nothing. "This whole thing is getting blown out of proportion," said DellaSala, director of the Klamath-Siskiyou Regional Program for the World Wildlife Fund. He was referring to a contention by Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage, R-Idaho, that a draft memo by environmentalists showed the Forest Service was eager to enlist their help in carrying out President Clinton's plan to ban development in 50 million acres or more of roadless national forests. "In the unfortunate political climate that we find ourselves in, there are some members of Congress that cannot find sufficient scientific justification to kill the roadless area initiative, but instead are fishing for conspiracy theory to undermine the process," DellaSala added. But Chenoweth-Hage, who chairs the House forests and forest health subcommittee, said there is justification for concern. And a local timber industry spokesman said the memo appears to put the Forest Service's objectivity into question. The Jan. 24 memo shows the agency was developing an agreement that would allow two environmental groups to set a process for mapping and assessing the roadless acres, she said, adding it shows the "agency was letting environmentalists set its policies and do its work." Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck said Tuesday he would not sign an agreement that would have environmental groups carry out analysis for President Clinton's proposal. Dombeck also said that he can't be held accountable for a memo written by environmentalists. The 11-page document received by the subcommittee is the draft of a proposal from the WWF and the Conservation Biology Institute to The David and Lucile Packard Foundation based in Los Altos, Calif. The authors of the document ask Packard for $650,000 for "roadless area mapping and related policy support." "We have a huge opportunity to influence the Forest Service and perhaps other agencies to move progressively on the roadless areas issue and perhaps others," the document states. Dave Hill, executive vice president of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association, said it makes the groups and the agency appear too cozy. "It doesn't seem quite fair if a particular entity is providing information to an agency that others aren't privy to," he said. "What do they (Forest Service) do with that information?" The point, he said, is that the government should never be placed in a position where questions are raised about its objectivity. "What they receive from one entity needs to be viewed by all parties," he said, adding, "Maybe what the World Wildlife Fund in Southern Oregon views as a roadless area, well, we may have a totally different viewpoint." DellaSala says it is standard procedure for any advocacy group, from the timber industry to environmental groups, to attempt to provide information to agencies that manage public lands. The agency negotiates hundreds of agreements with outside groups for activities on national forest lands, according to Forest Service spokesman Chris Wood in Washington, D.C. The WWF also has been discussing a collaborative effort with the Bureau of Land Management in Southwest Oregon to survey rare plants, DellaSala said. "All we are trying to do is get science-based information," said the forest ecologist of the roadless area debate. "Once we're done with our assessment, we would inject that into the policy debate. "But we're not trying to create their (Forest Service) roadless area assessment," he added. "This is our assessment. We have the same access as anyone else." The WWF has proposed a "memoranda of understanding" to the Forest Service to work on mapping roadless portions of the region, he said. "But they have not signed it," he said. "We're not even sure they are interested in this kind of collaborative process." It is also standard procedure for any advocacy group, he reiterated. "But some members of Congress are trying to block the roadless area policy," DellaSala said. "We're are going through proper channels." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA