Public Lands

Bingaman Reacts To Forest Service Temper Tantrum

By Emily Esterson, 10-19-05

Senator Jeff Bingaman sent a strong letter to President Bush yesterday, taking the USDA Forest Service to task for suspending permits, and mismanagement and lack of public input in the decision making process governing national forests.

The letter was sparked by a ruling from the Federal District Court of California that clarified a decision in the case of the Earth Island Institute v. Ruthenbeck. In its communications to area directors, the USDA said that the ruling applied "nationwide." It requires that "categorically excluded proposed actions are subject to the notice, comment and appeal provisions of 36 CFR Part 215. The project should be suspended until this process has been completed."

So what does that mean exactly? The Forest Service ordered the suspension of 1500 permits, projects and contracts across the National Forest Service System and is requiring a public notice and comment period for National Forest activities that may be harmful to the environment, according to the ruling.

For hunting outfitters it's an economic disaster. Jim Scarantino, an Albuquerque attorney who works with hunting outfitters on legislative issues, says the rulling could kill a lot of rural hunting businesses. "It's like telling Winrock Mall to close from Thanksgiving to Christmas." Scarantino says he's been in touch with clients to warn them to watch their mail but so far hasn't heard of anyone receiving a notice. "Its staggering," he says, because legally the case took place in another state, so Forest Service users in other states weren't party to it, nor should they be subject to the ruling.

In a 2001 report by the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, hunting employed 4,000 New Mexicans and provided $10 million in sales and gas taxes to the state. Hunting employed 9,000 Coloradans and 5600 Montanans.

And if you plan on supplementing your fossil fuel usage with wood this winter, you'd better start putting your notice in now. There will be a delay in cutting nation's Christmas tree, which comes from the Santa Fe National Forest, because they'll have to ask for public comment. And here's a beauty: Airborne Productions would like to film a movie in Taos Ski Valley in November. Can they? Not until they post notice and get comments from the public. Here's the notice from the Taos News.

Bingaman says the Forest Service drafted regulations that were "clearly illegal," and further botched the job by not fixing the problem with several legal techniques available to them. In a statement, Bingaman said, "The current debacle on the ground in states like New Mexico seems to be the result of misguided political appointees in the Department of Agriculture who have the authority to prevent the hardship being visited on the public, but who are failing to use it."

Update: A federal judge clarified the ruling Wednesday (paid link). The ruling applies only to timber cutting of more than five acres, prescribed burns, off-road vehicle use and timber harvesting.

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