| In
a devastating but still little-publicized move,
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently exercised
his line-item veto power to completely eliminate
the state Dept. of Fish and Game’s (DFG’s)
budget for inspecting logging in vast timber-producing
regions of California.
The governor’s action came at the close
of the long and wearying battle over the state’s
2010-2011 budget.
The cut represents fully two thirds of DFG’s
timber harvest inspection budget for the entire
state and affects primarily the Sierra Nevada
and northern interior California, where by far
the most clearcutting is taking place.
As one outraged citizen wrote in a letter to the
editor of Santa Rosa’s Press Democrat
soon after the veto, “It only took a single
stroke of a pen for the Terminator to ax the Department
of Fish and Game's Timber Harvest Plan (THP) review
program from the state budget… How will
the remaining three or four employees be able
to review plans as required by law?”
On-the-ground timber harvest inspections are one
of the ways the state protects the natural resources
of its public and private forests.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the state’s
largest clearcutter, as well as a major campaign
contributor to Schwarzenegger, Sierra Pacific
Industries will be the budget cut's biggest beneficiary.
While another agency, the California Department
of Forestry (CDF), is charged with conducting
the final review and approval of all THPs, as
Forests Forever has often pointed out, the
CDF’s chief role is firefighting, not resource
management.
The various stakeholders must look to DFG
for science-based recommendations on mitigating
or preventing harm from logging projects to protected
species and threatened habitats.
The DFG’s reviews have taken place before
and during logging activities on California’s
private and state-owned forestlands. DFG is authorized
to conduct these reviews under the state's Forest
Practice Rules and under the California Environmental
Quality Act.
We strongly support DFG’s authority and
qualifications to conduct THP reviews as mandated
by state law. We will fight to restore the DFG’s
THP review funding because we know that without
such reviews, the state’s wildlife, water
supplies, forest-area local economies, and strong
tourism and recreation industries will suffer.
We
need your support in this cause and we ask you
to donate generously so we can continue to
fight on the forests’ behalf.
“Of the agencies charged with reviewing
timber operations’ compliance with water
and wildlife protection codes, DFG has been the
standout in recent years, looking out for sensitive
and endangered species,” said Forests Forever
Executive Director Paul Hughes. “They make
sure, for example, that nesting trees to be spared
from cutting are properly identified and marked;
in evaluating stream crossings being built for
heavy equipment; in protecting rare plants; and
much more.”
As a result of Schwarzenegger’s budget cut,
Hughes added, “DFG will be left with a paltry
budget to look after anadromous fish species on
the North Coast, and little else.”
In recent years DFG has been the only environmentally
responsible agency to maintain a reliable presence
in pre-harvest inspections, providing vital information
to agencies, environmental advocates, the concerned
public and the timber operators themselves. With
DFG out of the picture, and with citizens not
allowed on pre-harvest inspections unless by invitation
of the CDF or the timberland owners, there will
not be a watchdog in the forest.
With more than 7.6 million acres of private and
industrial forestland within California to safeguard,
the DFG’s review function is vital in maintaining
water quality, biological diversity, and other
environmental values. The governor’s funding
cuts jeopardize all those values, not just in
the short term, but for generations to come.
In the coming year, we intend to lobby vigorously
to restore funding for the DFG’s THP review
program. With the budget seriously stretched,
we know it’s an uphill battle. But with
your generous donation we are ready to meet that
challenge and win.
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