Commentary by H.G. Listiak

Thursday 08/14/2003

Welcome to my world, where President Bush must be growing weary of visiting Arizona looking at the charred remains of once beautiful mountain forests. Earlier this week he was down south surveying the area ravaged by the Aspen fire that destroyed 340 homes in the month long wildfire that burned 85 thousand acres on the Coronado National Forest. The President wanted Governor Janet to be on hand, but she refused to interrupt her rafting trip on the Colorado River, this after she has been begging Washington to pump money into preserving Arizona's forests. The President didn't need her making a pitch for his healthy forest plan to speed up the thinning of 20 million acres by eliminating and limiting court appeals by tree huggers and the like and to let the professionals loggers wet their beak a little. It has been passed by the house but seems to be hung up in the senate. Unfortunately it has now become a campaign issue for Democratic Senator John Kerry who says it puts too few controls on the logging industry. They call it a big industry give away. U.S. forest service rank and file officials who live in the forests could care less if the loggers turn a buck or two thinning out the forests to prevent events like the Rodeo Chediski and Aspen fires. I doubt that the people who lost homes would worry about the loggers making money either. As an Arizonan that has spent a lot of time and life in our forests I like the Bush plan. As far as Kerry and Lieberman go, I think they are simply out of touch with the West, just a couple of East coast politicians with agendas…As I see it I'm H.G. Listiak.