Forest Service Plants the Seeds of Renewal
“Selling Out the Forests,” your Dec. 3 editorial on the Forest Service’s draft planning rule, completely misses the purpose of the Forest Service’s proposed rule. Today, the Forest Service knows that what is left on the land is more important than what is taken away. Our national forests and grasslands are operating under an outdated 1982 planning rule that does not recognize the shift in public values that has Americans visiting their public lands in record numbers to hike, camp, fish, canoe, ski and much more. It does not recognize the tremendous scientific and technological advances made since that time. The proposed planning rule allows us to seek more efficient and more productive ways of working with others to make the best decisions for our forests and our communities.
Your editorial accused the Forest Service of bureaucratic gibberish when we said that we planned to address three critically important aspects of public forests: ecological, social and economic. These three components are the basis upon which an international treaty defines sustainability for any healthy ecosystem. The fact that ecological, social and economic health is integral to any Forest Service analysis does not “erode” the National Environmental Policy Act. The proposed rule enhances and is entirely consistent with the NEPA.
What is eroding the value of our country’s important environmental laws is “process predicament.” We have a process that results in taking 10 years to write a 15-year plan. As a result, important work isn’t getting done -- and it is the land that suffers. The proposed rule will ease the process and free up resources. In developing the new planning rule, the Forest Service completed the most comprehensive look at planning costs ever done. The study predicts the revised rule could save as much as $300 million over the next decade. The proposed forest planning rule, now open to public comment, builds upon the hard work accomplished over the past several years.
Sally Collins
Associate Chief
USDA Forest Service
Washington