Saturday, March 8, 2008

News: California Fires Back at U.S. Forest Service

- Roadless Policy is No Impediment to Fighting Fires

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--Californias Secretary for Resources Mike Chrisman today questioned a road less area speech delivered by U.S. Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey as being

"difficult to comprehend".

Chrisman said Rey’s remarks regarding California road less areas and fire suppression costs, delivered yesterday during a Wildland Urban Interface conference in Reno,

“make no sense at all and are contrary to the facts,”
since California’s roadless area policy provides an exception for the construction of roads to fight fires.

Since day one we have been clear and consistent with our roadless policy and it has always included an exception for roads to be built to fight fires, Chrisman said. In fact, we have put this in writing several times and it has in turn been acknowledged by the Forest Service.
So, its difficult to comprehend Mark’s comments since they are contrary to the facts and to California’s roadless area policy.

California’s policy, that the Forest Service fails to recognize in management plans for four Southern California forests, specifically allows for roads to be built for fighting wildfires.
Letters exchanged between Chrisman and two Forest Service regional foresters, attest to that fact.

On Feb. 28, Chrisman and California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. filed a U.S. District court complaint contesting four Southern California forest management plans. The litigation alleges that the Forest Service failed to consider Californias roadless area policy in violation of the National Forest Management Act.

In addition, the complaint claims that the Forest Service failed to conduct appropriate environmental analysis in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.

Attachments available at: www.resources.ca.gov/keeping_californias_roadless_areas_roadless.html

Source: News: California Fires Back at U.S. Forest Service

No comments:

Post a Comment

CAL FIRE NEWS LOVES COMMENTS...
- Due to rampant abuse, we are no longer posting anonymous comments. Please use your real OpenID, Google, Yahoo, AIM, Twitter, Flickr name.


Twitter Buttons

****REMINDER**** Every fire has the ability to be catastrophic. The wildland fire management environment has profoundly changed. Growing numbers of communities, across the nation, are experiencing longer fire seasons; more frequent, bigger, and more severe, fires are a real threat. Be careful with all campfires and equipment.

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer." --Abraham Lincoln

View blog top tags
---------------------
CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO TOP OF CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS HOME PAGE

Subscribe via email to California Fire News - Keep track of Cal Fire News

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner