New Study of Sierra Forests Launched
The Clinton administration launched a new study of Sierra Nevada forests Thursday and said a proposed logging policy it rejected last month will not be redone before next spring.
Undersecretary of Agriculture James R. Lyons said the policy would be reworked using the “best available science,” including a three-year, Congress-sponsored report that found in June that logging has had a major impact on the environmental health of the Sierra Nevada.
The administration said it will form a team of scientists to devise a plan that balances logging and environment interests in 10 national forests in the Sierra.
The rules blocked on the eve of their release by the U.S. Forest Service would have allowed more intensive logging than is now permitted, including the harvesting of older, larger trees.
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