Politics

Timber! Forest Chief Departs

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

March 28, 2001 / 3:47 PM EST / CBS

National Forest Service chief Mike Dombeck, a proponent of a sweeping land-use plan that the Bush administration may be trying to undo, is stepping down from his job.

Dombeck, who could have stayed on until the end of April (or longer if asked), made the announcement Tuesday, telling his boss, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, he was retiring from federal service after 25 years, effective Saturday.

"It was made clear in no uncertain terms that the administration wants to take the Forest Service in another direction," said Chris Wood, who served as Dombeck's top aide until Friday. But "it is very cordial."

Chris West, vice president of the American Forest Resource Council, a timber industry group based in Portland, Ore., said he had problems with the course that Dombeck and the Clinton administration took the Forest Service.

The Bush Push

In its first few months, the Bush administration has:

• held firm in its resolve to set aside a Clinton order that would sharply restrict logging in national forests

• announced it has no plans to implement the global warming treaty negotiated in Kyoto, Japan

• relaxed rules on the amount of arsenic allowed in drinking water

• reversed itself on a campaign pledge to restrict carbon dioxide emissions from power plants

• relaxed federal air pollution rules on the mixing of ethanol into gasoline in the Midwest

• held firm on its determination to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

- Francie Grace

West said Dombeck tried to turn the forests he governed into national parks, instead of recognizing the value of their resources, including timber.

"Given the opportunity, we'd like the Forest Service to return to a resource professional and be sure that decisions are made by people that are focused on the ground rather than the White House," West said.

As chief, Dombeck worked to conserve old-growth forests, increase staff to protect wilderness areas and improve funding to fight wildfires and protect communities near the agency's 19million acres of national forests.

Perhaps one of Dombeck's most notable initiatives, but one facing multiple legal challenges, will be the completion of the roadless rule, a ban on road-building and logging in 58.5 million acres of national forest lands, except in rare circumstances.

The ban originally was to have gone into effect March 13, but President Bush postponed it until May 12 so he could review it. Timber interests had sought a court injunction to stop the ban.

William Meadows, president of the Wilderness Society, said he worries about how well the Bush administration will defend the road-building ban.

He is among a host of allies to Dombeck in conservation and recreation groups who appreciated the chief's approach to leading the Forest Service - secure the needs of the land before satisfying the needs of the people.

"He put it back to its historic roots," Meadows said. "There are strong signals coming from this administration...It is a shame that there are not going to be more people like Mike Dombeck to push back."

Meadows said he also had concerns about the Interior Department's decision last week to suspend new hard-rock mining regulations for public lands that would have strengthened environmental standards.

The new rules were imposed on former President Clinton's last day in office.

A fisheries biologist by training, Dombeck, 52, took over the service in January 1997 and reshaped it from a government agency considered to be a friend of the timber industry to a more cautious guardian of the national forest system.

In the process, Dombeck sometimes drew scorn from Western Republicans. But on Tuesday he received well-wishes from one of his harsher critics, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig.

"I admire Mike's commitment to his principles and goals," Craig said in a statement. "While we have not always agreed on policies developed for the national forests during the Clinton administration, I have always enjoyed a frank and open relationship with the former chief."

In a letter to employees, Dombeck said he planned to spend time with friends and family, then look for new opportunities. Phil Janik, the agency's chief operating officer, will serve as the acting chief until a successor is named.

Before departing, Dombeck also wrote Veneman a six-page letter outlining 10 recommendations for the agency.

Among them:

The Bush administration should not negotiate a settlement with those opposed to the road-building ban.
The agency should complete an inventory of old-growth forests and ensure their conservation.
federal government should increase funding for employees who protect wilderness areas, an effort Dombeck expanded and raised in importance within the agency when he made it a separate program.

Dombeck's resignation came just two days after the Forest Service unveiled a plan that's said to be aimed at improving the health of the ecosystem in the Nez Perce Natioal Forest in Idaho. The plan includes logging in an area that had been roadless, as well as the harvesting of some old-growth stands of trees.

Bill Mulligan, president of Three Rivers Timber Co. in Kamiah, Idaho, says he's pleased to see the feds moving towards timber harvest but believes this move may be premature, given that the state's lawsuit aimed at overturning the Clinton administration "roadless" rule is still pending.

"I'd like to see the state's lawsuit suit down the road a bit more, before we see someone enter one of Clinton's roadless areas," says Mulligan, explaining that he doesn't want to see the whole project get bogged down in appeals and court battles.

That's a point even environmentalists can agree on.

Larry McClaud of the Idaho Conservation League says he is leery that the Forest Service already wants to use a loophole to log in a roadless area. He believes a better method is starting the project in a less contested zone.

"If they want to do some restoration on the forest, that is great," says McClaud. "They ought to choose areas where it is going to be the most helpful. For example, why not do a thinning project around rural communities?... Most old-growth stands don't need to be thinned and there are lots of places that do need to be thinned."

The Idaho plan is subject to a 45 day public comment period before the agency takes final action.