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Buzz accepts an award from Jack Ward Thomas, former Chief of Forest Service.

This Chattooga Quarterly will reach you shortly after the election. I have no idea who will be our next president. I do know that the next four years will be a critical time for conservation. Policy direction as set by the president for the next four years on such issues as energy and the environment, global warming, national forest management, and even foreign relations will have profound effects on the health of our environment.

This Chattooga Quarterly features several conservation issues where government policy will make a big difference. We take a look at the approach that the Bush administration has taken on citizen involvement in national forest management as related to the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act. We also explore the concept and practice of land protection through the use of conservation easements. My contribution is an update on Stekoa Creek and recommendations for cleaning it up, once and for all, through sound land management policies.

Our goal is to inspire public participation in policy making based solid facts and ethics. Often, political spin and misinformation by powerful special interests make it hard for us to decide the best course toward good conservation practices. We hope this issue of the Chattooga Quarterly helps in that regard.

Policy shifts in government are often dramatic. In the early eighties just after Reagan was elected, the new president found a job for his old friend, Governor Bob Edwards from South Carolina. Edwards recently revealed in a public radio interview that when he got to Washington, he asked what he should do as the new Director of the Department of Energy. “Your job is to dismantle it,” Reagan replied.

Ronald Reagan’s policy was clear: energy deregulation = cheap abundant energy via competition and free enterprise = a stimulated economy where everyone gets a piece of the pie. Unfortunately, Reagan’s policy failed to account for the fact that an unregulated industry would knowingly gouge the public for profit based on a false energy crisis, or that this same industry would not protect the environment on their own. (Remember, this is the same President Reagan who once rushed to the press section on Air Force One after looking down on the Great Smokey Mountains and announced excitedly, “See that smog down there? It’s TREES that cause pollution!”) The fact remains that a flawed energy policy by Ronald Reagan reverberated far into the future.

Another good example of dramatic policy shifts has to do with national forest management. When Jack Ward Thomas was installed as Chief of the Forest Service under the Clinton administration, he immediately declared that his policy would be to “tell the truth, obey the law and to implement ecosystem management.” Thomas was the first Chief of the Forest Service with a solid scientific background, and in my opinion a very honorable man. When Chief Thomas insisted on protecting habitat for the Spotted Owl and much of the remaining old growth forest of the Pacific Northwest, he discovered very quickly how powerful the timber lobby is in Washington. I met with Jack Ward Thomas shortly after his appointment as chief and asked him how things were going. “You have no idea how hard it is to get anything done with the likes of Senator Stevens in here yelling at me every week,” he replied with disgust. Stevens, a senior member of the appropriations committee and champion of the Alaska timber barons, blocked Jack’s every move toward more scientific forest management through sheer political clout and the threat of cutting off appropriations to the Forest Service.

Jack Ward Thomas soon resigned for personal reasons and was replaced by the more diplomatic Michael Dombeck. Chief Dombeck’s first, major policy shift was to propose to protect all remaining roadless areas in the national forests. Dombeck took a very convincing argument to the people in over 600 public meetings across the United States, where he received resounding support from the American people. When the Bush administration came into power, the roadless protection initiative was scrapped. Dombeck soon resigned over differences in policy.

The Bush administration replaced Michael Dombeck with Dale Bosworth as Chief of the Forest Service. Bosworth has already articulated several policy changes that do not bode well for conservation. The new chief has presided over several regulation changes that restrict citizen participation and requirements to maintain species viability, and has moved by way of “stewardship contracting” to turn national forest management over to the timber industry.

Choosing a policy is like choosing a path. We often hear the axiom, “there are many paths to the truth.” But often, discerning the truth is the problem. Ours is a society where spin, misconception and outright falsehood often obscure the truth. We hope that our commentary and articles in the Chattooga Quarterly make it easier for you to become informed participants in the making of good policy, no matter who is president.