[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 34 (Monday, August 25, 2003)]
[Pages 1076-1077]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

August 16, 2003

    Good morning. This week, I traveled to Arizona and California to see 
some of America's forests and parks and to talk about my commitment to 
good stewardship of these natural treasures.
    On Monday, I visited the Coronado National Forest in Arizona, where 
wildfires recently consumed thousands of acres of forest and destroyed 
hundreds of homes. Nearby,

[[Page 1077]]

I also saw forests that remained largely intact thanks to wise forest-
management policy. Fire professionals and forest and park rangers agree, 
by thinning overgrown forests we will reduce the risk of catastrophic 
fire and restore the health of forest ecosystems.
    That is the purpose of my Healthy Forest Initiative. We're cutting 
through bureaucratic redtape to complete urgently needed forest-thinning 
projects. We are speeding up environmental assessments and consultations 
required by current law. And we're expediting the administrative appeals 
process to resolve disputes more quickly. By the end of this fiscal year 
in September, we will have treated more than 2.6 million acres of 
overgrowth, more than twice the acreage that was treated in the year 
2000.
    Under current law, however, litigation often delays projects, while 
some 190 million acres of forest remain at high risk of dangerous fires 
and nearby communities remain vulnerable. So I'm asking Congress to 
reform the review process for forest projects. The ``Healthy Forests 
Restoration Act'' would make forest health a high priority when courts 
are forced to resolve disputes, and it would place reasonable time 
limits on the litigation process after the public has had an opportunity 
to comment and a decision has been made. For the health of America's 
forests and for the safety and economic vitality of our communities, the 
Congress must complete work on this bill. The House has passed the 
legislation, and now the Senate must act.
    As we protect America's forests, we must also preserve the beauty of 
America's nearly 80 million acres of national parkland. On Friday, I 
visited the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in southern 
California. It is one of America's 388 national park areas, including 
historic sites and battlefields, recreation areas, monuments, and 
shores. Every one of them is a point of pride for the Nation and for 
local communities.
    Yet in the past, not all of these sites have been given the 
attention they require. Some of our national park areas are not in good 
condition. And for many years, Government did not even have the basic 
information about which places were most in need of repair or 
restoration. To meet this challenge, I pledge to spend $4.9 billion over 
5 years on needed work and maintenance in our national park areas.
    With the support of Congress, we're keeping that commitment. In the 
first 2 years of my administration, Congress provided nearly $1.8 
billion for park maintenance and roads. And my request for the next 
three budgets will bring total funding for park maintenance and roads to 
more than $5 billion over 5 years.
    With this funding, we've already undertaken approximately 900 park 
maintenance projects. This year, the Park Service is working on 500 more 
projects, and nearly 400 more are planned for next year. As we attend to 
needed repairs, we're also putting in place a new system of inventory 
and assessment to assure that America's parks stay in good condition. We 
have set a new course for our national parks, with better management and 
renewed investment in the care and protection. After all, the parks 
belong to the people.
    I look forward to traveling next week to Oregon and Washington 
State, and I will be carrying the same message: Our system of national 
parks and forests is a trust given to every generation of Americans. By 
practicing good management and being faithful stewards of the land, our 
generation can show that we're worthy of that trust.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 9:55 a.m. on August 14 at the Bush 
Ranch in Crawford, TX, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on August 16. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
August 15 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The Office 
of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of 
this address.