YES move Forest Service to Interior

An idea whose time has been knocking at the door for 50 years or more, moving the U.S. Forest Service from the Department of Agriculture to Interior, may finally, finally be here.

“Today the evolution of our forests has gone away from production and more towards preservation, and it seems to me that the natural move has made it over under the umbrella of the Department of the Interior rather than the Department of Agriculture,” Rep. Todd Tiahrt (Kan.), the top Republican on the subcommittee, said at a Feb. 12 hearing on the agency.

Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), the panel’s chairman, believes such a move would help shore up the Forest Service's budget and align agencies with similar missions, said his spokesman, George Behan.

“You have more recreational campground areas in the Forest Service than you do even in the Park Service,” Behan said. “So there's a logical reason for considering it. However, the question has to be asked, ‘Is it the best thing for each agency and for land management?’”

Tiahrt is not being close to telling the truth, of course. Not in this administration. Anybody who has e-mailed petition after petition to members of Congress, the Forest Service or both, on things like Bill Clinton’s roadless rule, Bush’s Healthy Forests initiative, preservation of the Tongass and more, clearly knows that.

But, that does underscore even more why the USFS needs to be moved — to send a message and put it on a tighter rein.

Don Kettl, director of the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania said moving the Forest Service to Interior might send a symbolic message that national forests are to be preserved and enjoyed, not harvested and developed, which could be perceived as a threat to the timber industry.

Heck, I would support the Reagan-era idea of merging the Forest Service with the BLM as part of the process. It’s weird to have a view of Colorado’s famed 14ers, or 14,000-foot peaks, on BLM and not Forest Service lands.

Call Dicks’ subcommittee staff director Rob Nabors at 202-225-2771 or Dicks’ office at 202-225-5916 to show your support.

There's more: "YES move Forest Service to Interior" >>

Rep. Larsen (WA-2) Smells a Rat

I've typically been pretty proud of my district's representation in Congress. Rick Larsen grew up in a town only a few miles from my own, and has served our district with distinction, fairness, and even handedness; which is difficult, given the dichotomous nature of the Washington 2nd's political geography. He's served our agricultural, military, and big business interests (Boeing) while maintaining his Democratic credentials. However, he did vote for the war, and he also voted for that atrocious Sensenbrenner immigration bill (which was out of left field - I still have no idea why he voted for that racist dribble...). I voted for him again in November, and while I still supported his candidacy, it was with a little less enthusiasm.

My faith has been, in part, restored (he still has a lot of climbing if he intends to get himself out of that Sensenbrenner hole...). The Seattle Times reported today that President Bush has been targeting specific members of Congress in an effort to co-opt them to support his inevitable escalation of the war. Alicia Mundy reports that the President included Rep. Larsen as one of those members of Congress whom he supposedly took into his confidence by laying out "secret" strategies for the Iraq conflict. However, when he met with two other members of the Washington delegation - Rep. Dicks and Rep. Smith - his story changed. When comparing notes on the President's narrative, Rick Larsen noticed inconsistencies.

Apparently, no mention of an Iraqi impetus for the so-called "surge" was made to him, while it was considered central to the strategy laid out by Bush to Norm Dicks and Adam Smith.

"...when reports of the plan leaked out, Larsen smelled a ruse.

Larsen told Dicks that nobody at the White House had mentioned any Iraqi-driven plan to him a few days earlier.

He speculated that the explanation had been drummed up by Bush's political advisers at the last minute to try to placate more senior members.

News stories confirmed that al-Maliki himself was denying responsibility for the plan.

Larsen, Dicks and Smith are now dug in against the escalation. And Larsen says he does not trust the Iraqis to show up to fight.

The White House 'changed the sales pitch,' Larsen said, adding: 'I don't buy it.' "

Perhaps this is an example of the Dems having actually grown a pair. Of course, such a claim must be backed by action.

There's more: "Rep. Larsen (WA-2) Smells a Rat" >>