That buzzing you hear is a phalanx of chain saws in the northwest woods getting ready to sink their teeth into some nice, mature tree flesh. At least that's what would happen if the Bush operatives in the region get their wish. You'd think they might learn a lesson, having been forced by many a court order and lack of demand to reduce the rate of logging to something approaching reasonable over the past decade, but you'd be wrong. So would I. It quite boggles the mind.

First came a proposal from the Fish and Wildlife Service to reduce the acreage of forested land set aside as protected "critical habitat" for the marbled murrelet by 94 percent, from more than three and a half million acres to a little over two hundred thousand. The agency argues that the birds have ample protection under the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan and other regimes, despite concurrent plans to reduce those same Northwest Forest Plan protections.

Next came a move to reduce critical habitat for the northern spotted owl by a million and a half acres, which is about 20 percent of the total amount the owls can now rely on. This proposal relies on a scientific report that was rewritten by political appointees in the Bush administration and publicly denounced by some of the scientists who drafted the report that was later altered. The aim is quite candidly to allow more logging of old-growth forests -- the owl (and the law) be damned.

The final volley is a plan announced by the Bureau of Land Management to increase nearly three-fold the logging that takes place on its lands in western Oregon. The proposal contemplates a return to clearcut logging on lands that provide habitat for spotted owls, murrelets, salmon, and other species. To accomplish this aim, the agency proposes to jettison provisions of the Northwest Forest Plan that protect scarce wildlife, belying the claim that the plan will continue to protect owl and murrelet habitat.

Why this is being done is something of a mystery. Once upon a time, such a move would have made some sense politically, but the economy of the Northwest has changed dramatically over the past decade or so; logging is now a fraction of the overall economy. And both Oregon and Washington are increasingly blue -- Republicans will not reap much benefit from these moves, and Democrats are likely to oppose them loudly.

People are already speculating about the Bush legacy. In the Northwest, at least, we're going to be fighting this legacy for a long time to come.

Tom Turner, Senior Editor
yourturn@earthjustice.org