Lest we forget, trees cause pollution
More than 3 million acres in Alaska's Tongass National Forest would be open to logging under a federal plan that supporters believe will [turn base metals into gold].Is it 2009 yet?
The Bush administration released Friday a management plan for the forest, the largest in the country at nearly 17 million acres. The plan would leave about 3.4 million acres open to logging, road building and other development, including about 2.4 million acres that are now remote and roadless. About 663,000 acres are in areas considered most valuable for timber production.
Environmentalists said the plan continues a Bush administration policy of catering to the timber industry.
"The new plan suffers from the same central problem as old plan. It leaves 2.4 million acres of wild, roadless backcountry areas open to clear cutting and new logging roads," said Tom Waldo, an attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice.
"This plan simply ignores economic realities. Logging these pristine areas makes no sense," said Christy Goldfuss with Environment America, another advocacy group.
[From Plan to allow logging in Alaskan forest]
