[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 35 (Wednesday, March 25, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E463]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                       U.S. FOREST SERVICE POLICY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RICK HILL

                               of montana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 25, 1998

  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, something has gone haywire at the U.S. Forest 
Service.
  In published news reports, and in testimony before the House 
Resources Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, it is clear that 
the agency is pursuing forest policies which are driven by politics and 
public relations rather than science and common-sense. I have to agree 
with subcommittee Chairman Helen Chenoweth of Idaho that the Forest 
Service's top-down policies have more to do with the 2000 presidential 
campaign than responsible national forest management.
  What has been recently imposed in our forests is a moratorium on 
management. The hands of local forest managers have been tied. Combined 
with the recent weather trends in my home State of Montana, this lack 
of local management is a recipe for disaster during this upcoming fire 
season.
  A recent article in the newsletter Conservation News (March 23, 1998) 
entitled ``Sportsmen being excluded from public lands, House panel is 
told'' is a clear example of the emerging agenda of the Clinton/Gore 
Administration and how they are using our forests in the most cynical 
way possible.

    Sportsmen Being Excluded From Public Lands, House Panel Is Told


                chenoweth hits `media manipulation' plan

       Sportsmen are increasingly being denied the right to enter 
     public lands, Safari Club International told a House 
     subcommittee last week.
       Before the U.S. Forest Service is permitted to pursue its 
     planned moratorium on forest road construction, Congress 
     should require that the agency publish a list of all road 
     closings in the last 10 years, the group told the forest and 
     forest health subcommittee.
       ``We want to insure that this new effort does not further 
     erode an already diminishing access to recreational 
     opportunity on public lands,'' said Ron Marlenee, Safari 
     Club's government affairs consultant. ``Increasingly, 
     sportsmen are coming up against pole gates, gates, barriers 
     and `no motorized vehicles' signs when they arrive at the 
     edge of public property,'' he told a hearing.
       The hearing was the second in two weeks to consider the 
     Forest Service's proposal to impose an 18-month moratorium on 
     the construction of roads in so-called ``roadless'' areas. 
     The scheme has drawn angry protests from westerners, with 
     several congressional chairmen threatening to slash the 
     Service's 1999 budget (See Conservation News, March 9, page 
     1).
       The focus of last week's hearing was H.R. 3297, which would 
     suspend the continued development of a roadless area policy 
     by the Service until public hearings are conducted on all 
     Forest Service units nationwide. As of late last week, the 
     measure had 24 co-sponsors.
       Subcommittee Chairman Helen Chenoweth (R-Idaho) again 
     blasted the Clinton Administration for its forest policies. 
     She referred to a recent Washington Post article about a 
     Forest Service communication plan to promote its agenda. 
     ``It's a detailed strategy on how to manipulate the media and 
     everyone else to get support for the administration policies 
     over the next eight months,'' the article stated.
       The article quotes the plan as proposing to have Service 
     Chief Mike Dombeck traveling to spectacular forest fires to 
     gain media coverage.
       ``We now have seen a copy of Chief Dombeck's PR plan which 
     was reported in the press,'' Chenoweth told the hearing. 
     ``After reading it, I am left to question, Where does the 
     Forest Service get the legislative authority to manipulate 
     the press and others to promote their agenda? '' she asked.
       ``I am also left to wonder where Chief Dombeck gets the 
     legislative authority to use this once proud agency--and I 
     stress once proud agency--to take `every opportunity to tie 
     with the vice president's Clean Water Initiative and indeed 
     provide a media event for the VP? ' '' Chenoweth said, 
     quoting from the plan.
       She claimed that, ``rather than protect the forest 
     environment, Chief Dombeck has allowed the Forest Service to 
     be used as a tool of the Clinton-Gore Administration to gain 
     partisan political advantage and promote Vice President 
     Gore's presidential aspirations.
       ``This blatant use of the Forest Service for strictly 
     partisan political purposes will not be tolerated,'' 
     Chenoweth said. ``It is unthinkable to utilize catastrophic 
     fire and the resulting devastation to human life and the 
     environment for partisan political gain and to promote Vice 
     President Gore's presidential aspirations.''
       The Safari Club's Marlenee suggested a hidden agenda in the 
     roads proposal. ``In an effort to further justify road 
     closures, the Forest Service implies that hunting in the 
     forest system is having negative impact on wildlife,'' he 
     testified. ``They contend that access has led to `increased 
     pressure on wildlife species from hunters and fishers,' '' he 
     said, quoting an agency notice.
       ``My experience has been that the Forest Service consults 
     extensively with state wildlife agencies and that the 
     jurisdiction of wildlife and hunting is primarily a state 
     right and responsibility,'' Marlenee continued.
       ``Because the Forest Service allegation appears in their 
     public document, because it impugns the role of hunting in 
     conservation, and because it denigrates the capability of 
     state wildlife management, I would suggest this committee 
     require the Forest Service to name even one state wildlife 
     agency that is not fulfilling (its) obligations. We know of 
     none and resent the fact this ill-thought-out statement is 
     being used to justify closure considerations that could be 
     harmful to sportsmen and to wildlife management,'' he said.

     

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