Clinton's Timber Policy Announced

The Clinton Administration has announced its plan for dealing with the timber controversy in the Pacific Northwest. The plan was severely criticized by advocates on both sides of the debate even before it was publicly announced. Environmentalists are concerned that it may take away the power courts have had to prevent timber sales, without adequately safeguarding old-growth forests against destruction. The industry argues that the average cutting level of 1.2 billion board feet per year on federal lands is too low to prevent further job losses, and the money allocated for retraining workers is insufficient. By not addressing forest management practices on private lands, the plan never had a chance at being an overall solution to the problem, according to Roy Keene of the Public Forestry Foundation.

Dubbed “Option Nine,” the plan was allegedly prepared due to industry pressure after earlier plans, which allowed less harvesting, were leaked. It does less to protect old-growth forests than any of the eight options originally prepared by the scientific working groups Clinton had established to study the issue. On the positive side, the plan does call for forest management to be based on watershed topology, and it calls for incentives to encourage domestic value-added lumber processing. Ultimately, these good ideas may be lost with the rest as both side take up arms once again to mold the plan after their own interests.