The health of the Shawnee National Forest may be jeopardized if a bill in the U.S. Senate that would temporarily change federal environmental laws is passed, environmentalist groups said.

The recessions act, a bill developed annually to trim the federal budget, contains an amendment calling for increased salvage logging in national forests this year.

Alan Polk, a national media officer for the U.S. Forest Service, said salvage logging is done to prevent sickly, insect-infested trees from spreading disease and to remove trees that could fuel wildfires. He said this protects the health of the forest and makes urban areas that border the forest less susceptible to fire.

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The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Charles Taylor (R-N.C.), called for a two year repeal of environmental laws regarding salvage logging and also mandated a three billion board feet-per-year minimum of salvage timber sales for 2 1/2 years.

The bill was vetoed by President Bill Clinton in June. A different version of the bill, in which the timber salvage amendment lasts one year, has not yet reached the Senate floor. The revised version passed the House of Representatives.

Jann Wilder-Thomas, a member of the Shawnee Defense Fund, said

see SHAWNEE, page 6