Hold the Line on Sierra Plan

For eight years, federal bureaucrats, scientists, environmentalists and others have worked to develop a plan for the unified management of 11 million acres of national forest in California. The object is to preserve old-growth forest, protect the habitat of the California spotted owl and other species, improve fire management and restore damaged streams, lakes and meadow systems. It’s a sound idea.

The plan has gone through drafting, redrafting and amendment. At last the end is in sight; a decision on a final plan is scheduled by next Tuesday, just four days before the Clinton administration leaves office.

At one point during this process, in 1997, U.S. Forest Service Director Mike Dombeck said, “Our goal is to ensure the ecological sustainability of the entire Sierra Nevada ecosystem and the communities that depend on it.” Nothing less than that should result from the final plan, which involves 10 national forests, plus the Lake Tahoe area, stretching from Kern County to Oregon.

There are fears among environmental groups involved in the planning process that opponents of stronger regulations will persuade Forest Service management to dilute some of the tougher conservation measures, including restrictions on commercial cutting of timber. The advent of the George W. Bush administration, with its generally anti-regulatory stance, may indeed be giving the Forest Service some second thoughts about how strong the proposed regulations should be, but science should decide this issue. The recommendations are based on years of thorough study.

The barometer for the health of the Sierra has been the spotted owl. Its numbers have been declining by 7% to 10% annually. Such declines also are feared for other species, including the Pacific fisher, the American marten, the wolverine and the Sierra Nevada red fox. Unless the tide is reversed, those species may be doomed. The plan may not be perfect but adjustments can be made and implemented as necessary. The important thing is to begin restoration of the magnificent Sierra now.