Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

Legislative Issues

Environment

Opposing Changes to the Northwest Forest Plan

24 March 2004

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee expressed concern today over the Bush Administration’s recent changes to the Northwest Forest Plan. Late Tuesday, the Administration made two major alterations to the Northwest Forest Plan:

1. The administration dropped a rule (the survey-and-manage program) that required forest managers to look for rare plants and animals before approving timber sales for logging.
2. The administration modified the aquatic conservation strategy that limits the amount of runoff from logging operations allowed into salmon-bearing streams.

Said Inslee, “The Northwest Forest Plan was created with the goal of balancing timber harvest and species protection. For ten years it has provided a functioning guideline to balance our timber economy and the protection of rare species in the Pacific Northwest. By dropping these rules, this balance is no more.”

“This is yet another example of how the Bush Administration is favoring corporate interests over sound science. It is no coincidence that these rule changes pander to special interests at the expense of environmental protection. Twenty Nobel Laureates recently blew the whistle on the continued suppression and misrepresentation of science by the Bush Administration. Now this Administration again chooses willful ignorance over good analysis.”