Redwood Reader

128.HCP’s, NEPA, Roadless Areas Under Fire
After a seemingly quiet week spent recovering computer data, today there is a spate of articles relating to our issues, i.e. glomalin is the key to watershed health. It was discovered by government scientists and is slowly making its way to forest practices. These issues go right to the heart of my point, the federal government is ignoring its own science as itprotects industry and removes current protections while the newish HCP concept is falling short across the country.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/licensetokill/222278_sanbruno03.html
The Seattle Post Intelligencer is running a huge special report on Habitat Conservation Plans as Washington State debates a 9 million acre HCP. They reviewed thousands of pages of documents and interviewed hundreds of people. Problems are arising from many previous plans, and Sal Steinberg was interviewed for the PL article. Also of interest is a report on the first HCP on San Bruno Mountain. Sal’s article reflects the concerns of many that the HCP was inadequate and there is no way to rectify the situation. These plans are typically for fifty years. Local residents spent a lot of time fighting with State agencies when they had already been cut out of the process.
http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2005/05/05/little-nepa/index.html?source=daily
Grist magazine reports in its Muckraker column article Jagged Little Pill the new energy bill contains clauses that roll back NEPA (National Enviromental Policy Act) restrictions for drilling. NEPA is primarily intended to protect endangered species and habitat. This again is the federal government ignoring its own mandates for the benefit of private industry, and not incorporating its own research into on the ground regulations. The newly passed House version contains seven rollbacks that could allow for massive drilling without a comment period or citizen review. While not expected to survive the Senate and conference committee on the Bill, the repeated attempts on a rising scale bode poorly for the future. Oil has had its run, lets not let it lead us to ruin.
Finally, today the Forest Service announced they would take suggestions from governors for 18 months about opening 34 million of the 58 million acres of unroaded National Forest lands to roads, the first step for mining, logging and development. We know who has the governors ears. This is especially maddening in that roads are known ecodestroyers, as the USDA Forest Services own Redwood Sciences Lab has demonstrated. And they are ignoring glomalin, discovered by USDA researchers.
Time is money. Money forces issues. We need this information at the policy making level yesterday. We will be able to grow the vegetation back but once a species is gone, its gone. Modern research and development should take us off the pressing need to destroy environments to sate business and our oil needs, just like materials science has taken a lot of pressure off timber