His dad would enumerate the names of species, and young Bosworth would dutifully record the details. It was common practice then, but strictly verboten now. The 1,800-page Sierra Nevada plan, issued barely a week before former President Clinton left office in January, calls for continued reductions in Sierra logging. An average of about 200 million board-feet was harvested from Sierra forests in the past three years. The new plan would cut that total in half within five years.
Environmental groups call the plan just right.
Loggers, ranchers and off-road vehicle users call it too severe. Smack in the middle is the Forest Service, whose 5,000 California employees still struggle to balance traditional commodity interests with the newer conservation focus. When Bosworth last worked in California, as deputy regional forester from 1992 to 1994, the new timber era was just beginning. In fiscal 1993, a total of 738 million board-feet of timber was sold from California's national forests. The statewide total has since fallen below 215 million board-feet, significantly driven by tighter environmental restrictions to protect California spotted owl habitat.