Posted on 06/28/2002 9:02:19 AM PDT by CedarDave
June 28, 2002
By Margo MacFarland
Herald Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON – Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell castigated environmentalists Thursday for advocating land-management policies he said have left Western lands more vulnerable to wildfires like the Missionary Ridge blaze, but a Durango environmentalist said Campbell was grandstanding.
"I’ve seen the negative effect that some environmental organizations have had in the West for a long time," Campbell told his colleagues in a Senate speech. "Some of these organizations have effectively paralyzed responsible forest management practices, thus contributing to poor forest health."
The Republican senator from Ignacio charged that environmentalists have too often opposed legitimate thinning of the forests, frequently litigating against responsible forest-management policies, thereby increasing the presence of fuels that heighten the threat of wildfires.
"Time and time again, we hear from Colorado’s firefighters frustrated that they can’t seem to get ahead of the fires," Campbell said. "I submit that we cannot seem to get ahead of some of the lawsuits that block our responsible management of the forests."
That is not true, said Jeff Widen, associate director of the Colorado Environmental Coalition.
In a telephone interview, Widen said "few, if any, true fuels-reductions timber sales and controlled burns have ever been appealed by the environmental community."
Widen expressed dismay at the overall theme of Campbell’s speech.
"How dare Sen. Campbell use what is a tragic and very serious situation to grandstand for a political agenda," Widen said.
Widen conceded that sometimes environmentalists have overreached, for example, "opposing timber sales beyond the point that they should," and being unwilling to compromise with other interest groups to find a solution.
But he said Congress has overfunded the Forest Service’s timber and road-building programs while underfunding fuels reduction at the edge of inhabited areas.
Private landowners need to clear fuels around their own homes, and Congress and government agencies need to better direct funds toward effective fuels-reduction programs, he said.
"The finger-pointing and the blame placing just doesn’t get us anywhere," Widen said. "What’s going to fix it is everyone that has a role, putting their heads together and their agendas aside."
Contents copyright © 2002, the Durango Herald. All rights reserved.
Well, well, well! An activist feeling the "heat" is actually conceding they are extremists!
Isn't that what the envioros have done?
Thanks for the heads up on this article.
His name will probably show up on some enviral website in that area bragging about closing down roads and not allowing the logging of dead timber, and the removal of brush that is nothing but flameable tinder.
Strap his whiney enviral a$$ into a parachute, give him a hoedag and drop him into a firezone to see up close what his agendas have brought about! I volunteer to buy my own cattle prod and will usher him out of the flying plane so he can show us how he will fight fires feeding on his agendas.
Missionary Ridge area is a rugged enough area, that without roads, logging and thinning, I'm amazed that that fire hasn't been worse than it already is.
Just like the Pledge ruling, these fires are fueling and fanning the flames of hatred for the Mother Earth first crowd.
| Black smoke from the Durango and Silverton narrow guage train mingles with smoke from the Missionary Ridge fire as the train steams out of Durango, Colo. Friday, June 28, 2002. The popular tourist attraction has reduced the length of its runs because of the 70,000 acre fire. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) |
Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!
Molon Labe !!
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