Forest Flip A Vulnerability For Schwarzenegger

[Mark E. Smith]

The Modesto Bee

During the recall campaign that swept him into office, Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a package of promises - "Arnold's Agenda to Bring California Back" - that included a strong environmental component. Among the planks that most cheered green groups was a pledge to uphold and defend a landmark forest management plan called the Sierra Nevada Framework against efforts to derail it.

Schwarzenegger reneged on that promise. And as Democrats line up for a shot at the state's highest office, forest policy is emerging as an issue they can use to draw a contrast between themselves and the incumbent.

The framework established new rules for managing 11 national forests encompassing 11.5 million acres of the Sierra Nevada. It would have established a protected network of "old forest areas" to maintain suitable habitat for old-growth-dependent species. the plan put large trees off limits to logging, and estimated that 191 million board feet of timber would be available for harvest in each of the first five years.

During the 2003 recall campaign, Schwarzenegger called the plan "a model of forest ecosystem protection," and pledged that if elected governor, he would "direct all relevant state agencies to comply fully with the framework and call on the federal govt to honor its pledge to abide by the policies set forth in this unprecedented compact."

The federal govt clearly felt unbound by any pledge. In Jan 2004, just two months after Schwarzenegger became governor, the revised framework landed on his desk with a thud. Critics said it was less a revision than a wholesale rewriting of the plan, more than doubling the amount of timber being cut, eliminating the "old forest areas" and allowing larger trees to be cut.

In response, Gov Schwarzenegger veered off the path blazed by candidate Schwarzenegger. The pro-Framework pledge quietly disappeared from his campaign Web site. And he submitted no formal response to the Sierra plan revision, even though 9,000 people filed appeals objecting to the new version.

http://www.modbee.com/24hour/opinions/story/2334715p-10559830c.html

Looks like Steroid Arnie's Bushie bosses in Washington slapped him into shape on this one.

[dmr]

1. This makes me incredibly sad

So much for promises, and typical for a pug. They'll say anything you want to hear to fool you for a vote, then do whatever they please after. Money trumps each and every time with them.

Recall or impeach the SOB.

[xchrom]

2. typical repuke tactic.

say whatever the people want to hear -- then do what the united corporate dominion demands.

[leesa]

3. Sorry, but anyone stupid enough to believe a guy in bed with Enron

was going to fulfill a pro-environmental promise has the IQ of a box of rocks.

[drduffy]

4. the pugs know

how manipulable most people are. They count on it. Check out the bell-shaped curve.