LAT: Schwarzenegger Acts to Guard California State Wilderness

[DeepModem Mom]

Schwarzenegger Acts to Guard State Wilderness
The governor will ask federal officials to ban new roads for mining and other development in 4.4 million acres of national forest.
By Robert Salladay, Times Staff Writer
July 12, 2006

SACRAMENTO — Ending one of his remaining fights with environmentalists, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will ask the federal government today to protect 4.4 million acres of national forests from any new roads for timber, oil or gas exploration or other development.

If approved, the Schwarzenegger plan would allay environmentalists' fears that national forest land in California would be opened to development, endangering fish and wildlife. The governor's request was in response to a controversial Bush administration rule that opened millions of "roadless" areas nationwide.

"Having a Republican governor of a western state, with a large amount of roadless areas, stand up to protect all the areas sends an important signal to the rest of the country," said Sara Barth, California regional director of the Wilderness Society.

Schwarzenegger is scheduled to unveil his plan today at a Capitol news conference. He is effectively embracing a Clinton administration ban on new roads and timber harvesting on national forest land that includes the increasingly crowded Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland forests in Southern California.

President Bush canceled the ban in late 2004 and asked each governor to propose specific areas for protection covering 58.5 million acres. Schwarzenegger's petition is in response to that request....

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-roads12jul12,0,4281681.story?coll=la-home-local

[niyad]

1. ahhh-nulld did something right for a change??? oh wait, it needs admin

approval--so he can request it, and look good, and the destroyers can deny it, and he still looks good. "well, I TRIED"

seriously, if this is on the level, he has just raised himself a couple of points in my estimation of him--just a couple.

[leesa]

5. He needs roads to drive his Hummers on.

It's an election year. It's BS. It will disappear later.

[MindPilot]

2. This story pegs my bullshit detector

I can't for a second believe that Arnie honestly cares about saving the forest. I wonder what or who is behind this?

[UTUSN]

3. Gee, what exactly did he do?------ strike a pose??/ n/t

[livetohike]

4. As one who has hiked many, many miles in these National Forests

over the years, I can honestly thank Arnold for doing something to keep the Bush administration from destroying these areas.

[melody]

6. Schwarzengroper's doing this in tandem with his current political attack

Proving, yet again, what a cynical bastard he is. He throws S.W.'s criticisms of Angelides around, then tries to position himself as pro-environment.

It's all about winning, no matter what is at stake, with these monsters.