Do you believe that on balance the search for rare species before logging is worthwhile?

Northwest Forest Plan

The USDA Forest Service calls the Northwest Forest Plan (NFP) "an integrated, comprehensive design for ecosystem management, intergovernmental and public collaboration, and rural community economic assistance for federal forests in western Oregon, Washington, and northern California."

Today's story (below) is not the first time that a judge in Seattle has had an impact on the forests of the Pacific North West. In 1989 and 1991, U.S. District Judge William Dwyer blocked the Forest Service from selling timber because he felt that not enough consideration was being given to the effect on the northern spotted owl (the Endangered Species Act was adopted in 1973). President Clinton's Northwest Forest Plan was introduced in 1994, and reduced logging and required a search for a number of rare plants and animals before logging could proceed. Dwyer blocked some further timber sales in 1999.

President Bush was elected and promised that logging would increase. In 2002 the Forest Service expressed concerns about the effect of the plan on reducing the threat of catastrophic wildfires and on the local economies. President Bush proposed removing the requirement to look for rare plants and animals in 2003, and carried it out in 2004. Now U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman has ruled that aspects of the changed rules broke the law (see below).

Here's the Introduction to the administration's Healthy Forests Initiative, explaining the thinking behind the changes:

Easing of Northwest Logging Rules Blocked

The Bush administration reduced the restriction on logging in the Northwest from the spring of 2004, issuing new rules saying that it would no longer be necessary to look for rare species before logging. A federal judge has now struck this down, saying that the administration should have shown why the rules need changing, under federal law, and that it had not considered the effect on rare plants and animals.

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Tropical Storm Harvey Approaches Bermuda, Tropical Storm Harvey forms near Bermuda,
Storm Harvey forms in Atlantic, warning for Bermuda

Tropical Storm Harvey is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, gaining its rank by one mph. Harvey was slowly approaching Bermuda on Wednesday.

Weather a Factor in Air France Crash

It appears that even the most modern planes ignore the weather at their peril. When the Air France jet skidded off a Lester B. Pearson International Airport (Toronto) runway and burst into flames, the airport was under a "red alert" for lightning (not in itself enough to prevent planes from landing or taking off), and there was an extreme storm by the airport's standards. The plane was evacuated rapidly and everyone survived without major hurt.

Environmentalists flay India's Thai tourism plan

The Andaman Islands of India, which were hit by last year's tsunami, have struck a tourism deal with Thailand. Environmentalists say this would destroy the ecology and encourage the sex trade. Thousands of people died in the tsunami on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Strong Earthquake Shakes Nicaragua

Nicaragua and northern Costa Rica were shaken by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake Wednesday, about 75 miles southeast of the Nicaraguan capital, Managua. There were no reports of major damage or injuries.

Settlement Reached to Remove Mont. Dam

The Milltown Dam and reservoir was built where the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers meet in 1908, and in the same year there was unusually high rainfall leading to a huge flood which washed a lot of toxic mining waste down to it. A great deal of toxic waste has accumulated behind the dam since then. In 1996 shifting ice stirred up the sediment, and the emergency release of water allowed it to flow downstream, polluting the river and causing rainbow and brown trout numbers to crash. Now agreement has been reached to remove the dam and the sediment.

Do you believe that on balance the search for rare species before logging is worthwhile?

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