http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/179020_forested.htmlStop the plunder at Tongass Forest
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
The protection of America's stunning resources in Alaska has drawn bipartisan support in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Senate must lend its backing to make common sense stick against logging interests.
The House last week voted to stop subsidizing the construction of logging roads in the Tongass National Forest. That's a clear rebuke, with heavy Republican support, for the Bush administration's efforts to open the southeast Alaskan forest to increased plunder.
The disregard for fiscal responsibility is breathtaking. Taxpayers for Common Sense says that in 2002, for instance, the U.S. Forest Service spent $36 million on Tongass logging, in return for a pitiful $1.2 million in revenues