Kerry proposes forest corps; Candidate says restoration efforts will create jobs - The Columbian (Vancouver, WA)

VERDI, Nev. - Democrat John Kerry would cut $100 million inannual government subsidies to the timber industry to pay for a newForest Restoration Corps that would invest in the long-term healthof national forests, his campaign said Tuesday.

Shifting spending from commercial logging operations on federallands would allow for creation of new jobs while restoring forests,streams and rangelands that have been mismanaged or severely damagedby wildfires, campaign aides told The Associated Press.

The new program reminiscent of the Civilian Conservation CorpsPresident Franklin D. Roosevelt established during the GreatDepression is one of the highlights in a three-page plan, "JohnKerry"s Forest Plan: Putting Communities First."

A retired Forest Service official, local Democrats and unionfirefighters who work for the Nevada Division of Forestry joinedcampaign officials in unveiling the plan Tuesday at Verdi near thesite of a wildfire that burned 1,200 acres on the western edge ofReno two weeks ago along the Nevada-California line.

Similar events were planned Wednesday in Arizona, Colorado andWashington state and on Friday in Oregon, said Sean Smith, Nevadacommunications director for the Kerry-Edwards campaign.

Among other things, a Kerry administration would pledge toannually budget to cover all federal firefighting costs, makenecessary additions to aerial firefighting fleets and focusreduction of fuels in overstocked forests on those areas posing themost immediate threats to communities.

"George Bush has taken advantage of public support for "healthyforests" to enable timber companies to log in remote and pristineareas of our public lands," the plan states.

Kerry would support "balanced forest management proposals andseek out input from the public rather than this extreme, one-sidedapproach benefiting big timber companies like the Bushadministration has taken," Smith told AP.

Robert McDowell, who retired 18 months ago after more than 30years with the Forest Service, most of it at Lake Tahoe, said Kerryrecognizes "forest management can benefit our nation"s economy whileprotecting our watersheds and natural resources."

"Today, the real cost of firefighting is not reflected in thepresident"s budget," McDowell said.

Kerry would support protection proposals like the Clintonadministration developed for the 11 national forests of the SierraNevada "through a collaborative, 10-year process and thensubsequently (was) abandoned by the Bush administration," the planstates.

Washoe County Assessor Bob McGowan, a Democratic activist, saidthe so-called "Sierra Nevada framework" was started under the firstBush administration and included public comment and input from47,000 people over nearly a decade.

"This administration whether it is Yucca Mountain or stem cellresearch or Sierra Nevada forests seems to want to put politicsahead of science," McGowan said.

Smith said the $100 million for the Forest Restoration Corpswould come out of the agency"s timber program but the plan did notspecify the accounts.

The Bush administration currently targets only about one-half ofthe Forest Service"s fuels reduction program on areas closest tocommunities while Kerry would spend a minimum of 70 percent of thatmoney on those areas, Smith said.

Spokespersons for the Forest Service and its parent AgricultureDepartment in Washington referred calls to the Bush-Cheney campaign,which dismissed the proposal as campaign politics aimed at buildingsupport among environmentalists while ignoring concerns ofmainstream Westerners.

"It"s simply another example of John Kerry saying anything toanyone who is willing to listen in hope of getting elected,"campaign spokesman Danny Diaz said Tuesday from Virginia.

"Over the course of his career he has catered to extremeenvironmental organizations. This is nothing more than a smokescreen by the Kerry campaign to try to cover up for an obviousvulnerability on issues critical to Western voters," said Diaz, whocriticized Kerry and Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., for missing the votelast year on the Healthy Forests Restoration Act.

An aide to Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said Kerry"s plan ignoressignificant public input that went into creating the Healthy ForestsRestoration Act.

"I think this was a partisan event. Sen. Kerry needs to go backand look at the act," said Amy Spanbauer, Gibbons" communicationsdirector. "More forest managers support the healthy forests Act andunderstand its need and goals than what Sen. Kerry would like you tobelieve."

The debate

Should subsidies to the timber industry be cut?

On one side: No. The timber industry provides jobs and helpsdeter wildfires by harvesting overgrown forests and areas alreadyburned.

On another side: Yes. The money would be better spent investingin firefighting budgets, conservation jobs and forest initiativesthat meet sound environmental goals.