Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, the Forest Service, as we speak, is preparing to authorize salvage operations on 30,000 of the 154,000 burned acres, and a decision is due as early as August. As I said earlier, salvage logging is not without controversy, and the decisions to authorize these activities need to be fully analyzed and fully transparent. Many ecologists believe that post-fire landscapes are an essential component of forest lifecycles that provide critical habitat for wildlife and other essential ecological services. Rushing to allow indiscriminate salvage operations, as this bill intends, threatens the overall health of the forest. The planning process is ongoing under expedited emergency provisions set out by CEQ. Our national forests are more than timber factories, and we have a public planning process that ensures all uses and benefits are considered. This bill ignores that process, and that is why I repeat opposition to it. I yield back the balance of my time. The CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock). The amendment was agreed to. {time} 1045 Amendment No. 5 Offered by Mr. Young of Alaska The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 5 printed in part A of House Report 113-340.”