Obama\'s forest service weakens national forest wildlife protections

The U.S. Forest Service released a new proposal Thursday for the nation’s 193-million-acre national forest system that will weaken rules protecting fish and wildlife from logging, livestock grazing, mining and off-road vehicles. The new proposal, which was released as part of the final environmental impact statement for the rule, is the Forest Service’s fourth attempt since 2000 to revise nationwide regulations governing national forests. All three previous attempts were challenged in court by the Center for Biological Diversity and allies, and all three prior attempts were found unlawful. Like the 2000, 2005 and 2008 rules, the Obama administration’s planning rule would decrease longstanding protections for wildlife on national forests. “This rule is a step up from the Bush rule, but its protections are still a far cry from Reagan-era regulations that the Forest Service has been trying to weaken for 12 years,” said Taylor McKinnon, public lands campaigns director at the Center. “Our publicly owned national forests should be a safe haven for wildlife. In the face of unprecedented global climate change and other threats to species, the Forest Service should be trying to strengthen, not weaken, protections for wildlife on our public lands.” Congress enacted the National Forest Management Act in 1976 to guide management of the national forest system, which consists of 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands. In 1982, the Forest Service adopted national regulations to provide specific direction for activities such as logging, mining, livestock grazing and recreation. That rule included strong, mandatory protections for fish and wildlife, requiring the Forest Service to monitor and maintain viable populations. The Clinton administration in 2000, and the Bush administration in 2005 and 2008, issued new rules to revise the 1982 regulation. Each of these efforts was found unlawful and were not implemented.  The Obama administration is again trying to weaken the long-standing 1982 regulations by requiring that the Forest Service only maintain viable populations for species “of conservation concern,” and only at the discretion of local Forest Supervisors. Like the Bush rules that were defeated, the new Obama rule would also not apply to the thousands of site-specific projects and activities that the Forest Service approves each year; rather it would only apply to forest plan amendments and revisions. And, like earlier attempts, the new rule seeks to replace the longstanding administrative appeal process with less formal pre-decisional objections. According to the Forest Service, a notice of availability for the final environmental impact statement will be published in the Federal Register on Feb. 3 with a record of decision selecting the final planning rule not less than 30 days thereafter. Contact Info: Taylor McKinnon (928) 310-6713