GAO blames govt. for logging losses

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON - A government study blamed the Bush administration, not lawsuits by environmentalists, for adding to the cost of a logging project in which the government spent $11 million to salvage less than $9 million in timber from a wildfire.

The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said the administration's decision to dramatically increase logging, coupled with the size of the fire and the complexity of environmental laws, led to delays.

The so-called "Biscuit fire" burned almost 500,000 acres in Oregon and California in 2002, making it largest wildfire in the lower 48 states since 1997.

The Bush administration and its Republican allies contended that lawsuits filed by environmentalists led to the increased costs.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061005/ap_on_go_ot/logging_study