Post by Greg Stamper on Aug 1, 2019 20:03:31 GMT -5
Time to speak up for national forests, or see ‘radical turn toward secrecy’ on logging
By Jim Scheff
August 01, 2019 04:40 PM
You’ve probably never heard of a “Categorical Exclusion.” You may have heard of the National Environmental Policy Act, also known as “NEPA,” the bedrock environmental law signed by President Richard Nixon in 1970. It would make sense if you hadn’t. But I’d wager that you know a thing or two about the Daniel Boone National Forest, or places like the Red River Gorge, Vanhook Falls, or Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. If you do, and if you care about these places – or any of the 193 million acres of national forest lands across our United States – then now is a good time to get familiar with some of these obscure terms. Here’s why:
The U.S. Forest Service, under President Trump’s Department of Agriculture, has proposed major revisions to the agency’s rules for following NEPA. The proposed changes would end longstanding requirements that the Forest Service notify the public, allow for public comment, and analyze environmental impacts when approving logging, road building, pipeline construction, and a host of other activities across the U.S. National Forest system, including Kentucky’s Daniel Boone National Forest and Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. This is a radical turn toward secrecy that benefits industry at the expense of the public.
Under the new rules, the Forest Service would be allowed to clearcut up to 4,200 acres at a time – nearly 7 square miles – for pretty much any reason, without telling the public or performing any meaningful environmental review. Their “one size fits all” approach treats Kentucky’s 170,000 acre Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area no differently than the 17,000,000 acre Tongass National Forest in Alaska.
Read more here:
www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-ed/article233405127.html#storylink=cpy
By Jim Scheff
August 01, 2019 04:40 PM
You’ve probably never heard of a “Categorical Exclusion.” You may have heard of the National Environmental Policy Act, also known as “NEPA,” the bedrock environmental law signed by President Richard Nixon in 1970. It would make sense if you hadn’t. But I’d wager that you know a thing or two about the Daniel Boone National Forest, or places like the Red River Gorge, Vanhook Falls, or Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. If you do, and if you care about these places – or any of the 193 million acres of national forest lands across our United States – then now is a good time to get familiar with some of these obscure terms. Here’s why:
The U.S. Forest Service, under President Trump’s Department of Agriculture, has proposed major revisions to the agency’s rules for following NEPA. The proposed changes would end longstanding requirements that the Forest Service notify the public, allow for public comment, and analyze environmental impacts when approving logging, road building, pipeline construction, and a host of other activities across the U.S. National Forest system, including Kentucky’s Daniel Boone National Forest and Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. This is a radical turn toward secrecy that benefits industry at the expense of the public.
Under the new rules, the Forest Service would be allowed to clearcut up to 4,200 acres at a time – nearly 7 square miles – for pretty much any reason, without telling the public or performing any meaningful environmental review. Their “one size fits all” approach treats Kentucky’s 170,000 acre Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area no differently than the 17,000,000 acre Tongass National Forest in Alaska.
Read more here:
www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-ed/article233405127.html#storylink=cpy