More forests up in smoke? (Insider Report).

On January 12, 2001, during the closing days of his administration, President Clinton issued the Roadless Area Conservation Rule barring virtually all road building on nearly 59 million acres of the national forests. This massive, last-minute set-aside policy further complicated an already complex regulatory policy that has led to massive forest insect infestations and enormous wildfire destruction. The national forests have become tinder boxes choked with dead and dying trees. The roadless policy, part of the plan for "rewilding" America, makes it impossible to manage the forests, remove diseased timber, fight wildfires, provide the nation with needed lumber and wood products, and sustain forest industries providing tens of thousands of jobs.

On December 12, 2002, the Bush administration announced a new fire prevention plan to roll back some of Bill Clinton's legacy. Bush's plan would provide for expedited procedures to allow for quicker cutting of trees and overgrowth on public lands. It would limit the environmental ...