WASHINGTON -- In response to reports that the Bush Administration is drafting a proposal that would increase logging in the Sierra Nevada region of California, creating the least restrictive environmental guidelines in almost a decade, Congressman George Miller (D-CA) today issued the following statement. Miller led two efforts on behalf of California lawmakers to encourage the Bush Administration to immediately implement the Sierra Nevada plan without revision.

“The proposed changes to the Sierra Nevada plan indicate a conscious decision by the Bush Administration to turn back the clock on environmental protections by ignoring scientific evidence and the belief of 33 million Californians who agree that excessive logging in this region is harmful.

“Opponents of the original Sierra Nevada plan used fiery rhetoric to suggest that these forests needed to be logged in order to be saved. The fact of the matter is that the original plan achieved an important and elusive balance between providing forest and community protections through forest thinning.

“My support and the support of millions of Californians for fuel reduction projects in the Sierra Nevada rest on an assurance that old growth and wildlife habitats will be protected. The original plan provided those protections and these revisions throw both the protections and our trust out the window.

“The Bush Administration has once again sacrificed critical environmental protections for our public lands, waters, and air to the benefit of its special interest allies. Instead of implementing a plan with wide public support, the Administration seeks to usher in a narrow proposal that turns back the hands of time.”