Forests plan put to test in Texas - 7,500 acres to be thinned, burned

Houston Chronicle ^ | January 11, 2003 | DINA CAPPIELLO

[Cincinatus' Wife]

NEW WAVERLY -- The Sam Houston National Forest will be a testing ground for a Bush administration policy to expedite timber harvesting and controlled burns in fire-prone federal forests.

About 7,500 acres of dense pine forest 60 miles north of Houston are to be thinned and burned this year after undergoing a scaled-down environmental review that advocates say masks the true impact and opens publicly owned lands to timber companies.

The woodland is one of 10 forests nationwide that will be subjected to the new policy, the Healthy Forests Initiative, which is aimed at reducing the paperwork and lawsuits that U.S. Forest Service officials say have hindered management and led to one of the worst wildfire seasons on record in the West last summer.

Besides the streamlined review, the initiative, first announced in August, expands the number of projects exempt from environmental oversight and makes it tougher for advocacy groups to file appeals.

The other test projects are in Idaho, Nevada, California, Oregon, Utah, Michigan and Washington.

Eventually, however, the policy will be applied to as much as 190 million acres of public land that is at high risk of fires and debilitating insect infestations.

"It will speed up the process. It will make it harder for the public to figure out what is going on," said Brandt Mannchen, forestry chairman for the Houston Sierra Club. "It will make it seem like everything is benign and innocuous when, in fact, over a period of time, we are converting the forest."

Forest managers and timber companies call the changes necessary to reduce fire risk.

"These common-sense reforms would reduce the overlapping studies required by current law that result in undue delay," said James Houser, president of the Texas Forestry Association, a trade group of timber and wood-product companies.

At the Sam Houston forest, management efforts will be focused on a 15,555-acre area known as Four Notch that has a long history of controversy. Here, the forest borders private homes, a church camp and the gymnastics training facility of world-famous coach Bela Karolyi.

But over the past decade, only 20 percent of the area has been thinned and slightly more than 2,000 acres burned -- actions that foresters say were delayed by Southern pine beetle infestations, weather, protests and lawsuits.

The controversy erupted in the 1980s, when a beetle outbreak destroyed 2,600 acres. When the Forest Service attempted to clear and replant the area, environmentalists chained themselves to trees and equipment in protest.

Now, forest rangers say, it is only a matter of time until the beetle, or a catastrophic fire, breaks out.

"We have areas where we feel we have to be doing more management of vegetation, and we are not moving very fast with it," said Tim Bigler, the district ranger for the Sam Houston National Forest. "The process has really slowed us down. We need to take action whenever biology is dictating something needs to be done."

And in the Four Notch area, the trees are telling foresters they need help.

Patches are so dense -- what biologists call "dog-hair stands" -- that it is difficult to walk and the canopy above blocks the light from the younger trees below.

These young, scraggly stands drive away the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker while encouraging Southern pine beetle populations to explode and fires to burn out of control, biologists say.

Still, over the past five years, only two of the 53 fires that broke out in the 162,000-acre Sam Houston National Forest were in the Four Notch area.

Under the expedited review, foresters here plan to decide on what will be thinned and burned by August, after a biological survey and 30 days of public comment. Then, depending on the degree of the impacts, the Four Notch project could require a full environmental impact statement.

Bigler says the new policy won't affect what he does.

Starting next week, he and other foresters will begin studying the area slated for thinning. They will determine how many trees are on a given acre, measure the diameter of their trunks and assess whether the area is home to any threatened or endangered species, such as the woodpecker, which could be affected by logging and burning.

Using this information, foresters will decide which trees -- and how many -- should be cut down, and seek bids from timber companies.

Environmentalists worry, however, that not all of the information gathered will be present in the pared-down environmental assessment, making it difficult to judge the environmental impacts and whether further analysis is needed.

"I'm concerned that a lot of information won't show up on the radar screen for folks," said Mannchen. "They are just zipping projects right through."

[Cincinatus' Wife]

How a Butterfly Makes a Tidal Wave***Many people have already started to take initiative in many different ways. They have fought to protect wild places not only in Northern California, but all over the world. One good example is Earth First. Earth First is a network of local groups who battle against environmental destruction. Earth First is currently active in about 13 countries. They assist different community organizations in their battles and are notorious for their direct-action way of combating environmental destruction. They have held protests, blocking off lumber roads. They have chained themselves to trees, and put their lives on the line to protect the environment. This style of direct action has proved to be successful in some cases. They have even blocked off interstate highways in major cities to protest car culture, and how it damages the earth. "Earth First" really means putting life first. The earth is a living organism and humans are just one aspect of it, just like all other species.

There are other organizations, like the Sierra Club, who concentrate on lobbying for public policy rather than direct action. They have formed offices all over the country and lobby the government for environmental preservation by using petitions, phone call campaigns, and affiliating themselves with political groups to gain support. And like the Sierra Club, these methods are sometimes effective, sometimes not. All organizations have their problems and are constantly trying to increase their impact.***

Stephanie saddened by the destruction of the Redwoods

Julia Butterfly Hill from the top of Luna

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Clean Water Act narrowed - EPA removes protection from certain isolated wetlands*** "This attack on one of this nation's most important environmental laws flies in the face of common sense and American values," said Joan Mulhern, senior legislative counsel for Earthjustice. "The public does not want more dirty water."

Rep. Doug Ose, R-Calif., chairman of a House Government Reform subcommittee on natural resources, hailed the administration action. He said it will clear up uncertainty for regulators and developers while allowing each state to adopt its own regulations.

Sen. James Jeffords, I-Vt., outgoing chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said the administration guidelines "strike at the very heart of the Clean Water Act" at a time when 40 percent of the nation's waterways still do not meet basic clean water standards.

Housing industry representatives who have been pressing the administration for a new rule in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling voiced disappointment that the guidance letter wasn't more specific in defining the "isolated" streams and wetlands that no longer would be afforded environmental protection.

"The wetlands guidance issued today ... will only perpetuate the confusing disarray of wetlands regulations that currently exists in the field," said Gary Garczynski, president of the National Association of Home Builders.

The administration has been wrestling with the enforcement issue for weeks, and there were indications that the EPA and the White House decided to narrow the effect of the new guidelines at the last minute, in response to criticism from environmental groups.***

[MotleyGirl70]

Poor Dog Alert!

[MotleyGirl70]

For all ya with a 15" screen....scroll over to the right.

Why do I get a "kick" out of this picture???? Makes me laugh?

It's soooooooooooo stupid. Who does this stuff?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

What a "spotted owl" hoot!

[MotleyGirl70]

Don't cha love how they are all "evironmentalish" but yet they wear hunting camo?

What are they going to go tree hunting?????

I thought camo was for hunter's.

Oh it must be the green they like in the camo.

Fools!

[Flyer]

Sam Houston National Forest

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Support Your Houston FReeper Chapter!

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[MotleyGirl70]

One of my best friend has a Sierra Club poster in her house. I have to bite my lip when I see it. She is a flaming lib. I love her to death, but we don't talk politics much or we know we might loose each other as great friends.

[MotleyGirl70]

Are you psychic, I have heartburn right now and was just going to get some Rolaids.

Are you psychic or psycho? ......Rolaids chewing MotleyGirl70

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump for Houston.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I guess she just moves to the beat of a different drummer.....

[MotleyGirl70]

Actually I wish I was walking down that trail right now. Without a bear attack of course! :)

[johnny7]

Yes... they are fools. I bet they don't smell too good either.

Slash and burn is the most efficient way to maintain forests.

The ashes provide nitrates and kill insects. The larger trees are not affected.

The only thing these people have in common with nature is that they go to the bathroom. HA!

[MotleyGirl70]

Oh come on...they wipe with leaves?

We can all "rough it" but must we not all "get clean" and shower?....ooops My bad, look we are talking about, they know all about "living off the land." LOL

[MotleyGirl70]

.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..I love her to death, but we don't talk politics much or we know we might loose each other as great friends...

Be strong. Ditch her.

[MotleyGirl70]

No way man! She is a great friend and I love her. I tried to get in to pro-life/pro-choice with her I can't win. Her two DAY year old baby died last June; I don't think that will change her mind. I love her and we have our differences. With my friends there are only two libs, the rest hate 'em. So out of seven; we are up 5/2!

[MotleyGirl70]

And one friend's parents and she went to the People's Republic of Madison of Wisoncon University!

Total flamers!

Flame on Badgers!

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..I love her and we have our differences...

You've got a good heart, Motley. But it's gotta be tough love, for liberals.

I'm not saying it's easy; I haven't spoken to Mom since she bought me a Barbra Streisand record in '96, and I'll admit, the first few Christmases were tough.

[MotleyGirl70]

Eeewwwww....My Mom is a Repbulican but listens to her CD's (rarely) and if I go over to my parents house and she has that on I have go talk to Dad outside. My Dad calls, Babs and Hitlery the worst word you can call a woman. It begins with a "C" and ends with a "T". Never bring up Hillary's name in my parents house around my Father or that word might be heard. I'm use to it. My Mother agrees with it but hates that he uses "that" word. Us kids can handle it and love it. Dad can't stand feminazi's! He hates Hitlery! with a passion!!!!!! More than Bubba!

[johnny7]

they wipe with leaves?

Nah... that would disturb the eco-system.

They just go in their pants and feel warm and cozy.

If they ever ventured off the road into the woods they would be dead meat.

[MotleyGirl70]

BTW....at Christmas time it is Manheim Steamroller at the MotleyGirl70 and Family house.

Just as Rush listens to.

Chip Davis is a musical genuis!

[MotleyGirl70]

Or maybe they goes go in Mountain Dew can in their newly "souped" up '02 Ford Focus, along side that can of tofu sitting on the dashboard.

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[farmfriend]

pinging the usuals. If you would like to be on the list, let me know.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!

[bigfootbob]

"It's soooooooooooo stupid. Who does this stuff?"

College graduates from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. Probably other colleges have "enlightened" grads like this too.

[bigfootbob]

"Oh come on...they wipe with leaves?"

Here's a confession. As a kid in elementary school in the midwest in the late '60's. I was told by a moronic history teacher that "the indians" cleaned up like this. Well, I had to try it since I spent most of my free time in the woods after school. The only thing I didn't know was how to identify poison ivy!

[johnny7]

The only thing I didn't know was how to identify poison ivy!

A woman I worked with spent a weekend on her back with her boy-friend at a secluded spot.

HA! I felt sorry for her. Poison ivy sucks!

Once got it on my hands when I was told to use the jack-hammer.

What happened was all the blisters popped and spread.

[Flyer]

Are you psychic or psycho?

I KNEW you were going to say that. These premonitions make me crazy.

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Support Your Houston FReeper Chapter!

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[Carry_Okie]

Healthy forests? It takes a chainsaw.

 

Same spot, before and one year after thinning. It was one stump with 31 trees. The groundcovers came back as soon as they had light.

It's my land.

Here's an oak forest choked with weeds and dying vegetation.

Here's what it looks like when you get done (it's taken six years for the groundcovers to come back (poor soil)).

It's my land.

Here are two types of forest, both requiring completely different kinds of management technology on one 14 acre place. We also have meadows, buckeye forest, deep chapparal... Each has its own regimen, each has its own kind of weed infestations, each requiring a unique array of processes for control. Then there is revegetation. Replanting native species is complex, because the plants have ways of relating to each other without which they don't do well.

It is responsibly estimated that the Healthy Forest Initiative will cost the taxpayer a net of $100 billion dollars and not even keep up with the accrual of fuel in an already overstocked condition.

The Forest Service spends 40% of its budget on lawyers. Are they going to get laid off? Where will they go? Activist NGO payrolls?

The point is: How is the Federal government going to learn to manage all that complexity correctly with all that variation among individual parcels and with all that bureaucratic and legal overhead?

It can't. There is a better way.

[bigfootbob]

After that experience, I really developed an intolerance to the nasty weed. If I encountered smoke from a landowner burning the stuff I would develop symptoms. My fingers would swell and when the blisters popped, I had to place bandages between the digits. What a nightmare for an active kid. Poison Ivy is very bad business.

[MonroeDNA]

LOL! I remember that pic.

The dog must have a sensitive nose. Or maybe just an average nose.

[MonroeDNA]

"The only thing these people have in common with nature is that they go to the bathroom."

Yeah, in buckets, up in the trees.

[MotleyGirl70]

Sorry, but LOL...I've never had poison ivy, but that has to be a horrible way to find out that that's what it was.

[forester]

Nice job! Too bad there wasn't a portable co-gen unit available to run all that bio-mass through. Oh well, particulates from open burning probably give raindrops something to form around.

Control burning is a form of cloud seeding? That would be a study I'd be interested in reading.