AAccording to Karlyn Bowman at the American Enterprise Institute in a study of public attitudes on the environment, opinion about George W. Bush's stewardship is evenly divided between approval and disapproval, contrary to the environmental lobby who claim Bush has a horrible environmental record.
With Utah Governor Mike Leavitt being named head of EPA, perhaps more balance will happen and even bigger environmental gains could occur.
President Bush rightfully is pushing his Healthy Forests initiative, which may impede future wildfires by cutting breaks in the woodland. The feeble protest by critics is that it might benefit logging companies, as if that's a crime!
The House passed (256-170) the Healthy Forests Restoration Act that will finally allow the much needed cleanup of dying forests—deadwood that fuels catastrophic wildfires. Just as important, it marks the first time that a "bipartisan majority" has stood up against extremist environmental groups.
Wildfires ripped apart more than seven million acres of forestland last year. These fires stem from years of well-intentioned, but misguided forest polices under the Clinton-Gore Administration, who tried to end human stewardship of natural resources. Unfortunately, millions of acres of timber are today dying from insects or disease, putting many tracts of forestland at high risk from fire.
Healthy Forests is not a cure-all, but it will certainly put into motion some preventive maintenance measures. It authorizes our Forest Service to immediately begin thinning up to 20 million acres—primarily near towns and cities. It opens up 250,000 acres to experimental treatments by university scientists and forest schools. Best of all, the initiative streamlines regulatory review making it hard for environmental extremists to strangle cleanups in endless legal appeals.
Let's hope the American public and environmental lobby gives the new program a fire-fighting chance. This could be one time that Mother Nature doesn't know best.
Final Thought
"Opportunities always look brighter going than coming."
