http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/sta...009610,00.html

Headline:

Fire mitigation may cut amenities
Forest thinning could force need to take money from recreation, wilds
protection

By Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain News
June 4, 2003

The Forest Service wants to clean out fire fuels on five times more land in
Colorado than in past years, but that might mean fewer road repairs,
campgrounds, trails and amenities for visitors.

In 2002, the Forest Service spent $11.7 million on thinning trees and cleaning
out dead wood, pine needles, brush and other fire fuels on 47,107 acres in
Colorado.

"We want to do five to six times that. We don't have the money, so we are
developing a strategy to shift money from other programs," said John Twiss,
acting director of fire and aviation for the agency's Rocky Mountain Region,
based in Lakewood.

"For the effect on fire fuels we need in this region and Colorado, we need to
go at a faster pace," he said.

That could mean taking money from recreation - skiing, trails, picnic areas and
camping, wilderness protection and other programs to lessen fire risks in
communities.

"We have a certain budget," Twiss said. "We have the ability to shift the
dollars. We need to know what the impacts and trade-offs are."

Last week, Colorado Republican Rep. Scott McInnis' "Healthy Forests Restoration
Act" won approval in the House. The bill, introduced May 1, includes no money
for reducing wildfire risks in communities next to forests but streamlines the
public comment and appeal process.

The McInnis bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., would spend $70
million a year to create markets for wood, protect water supplies and curb
disease and insect infestations.

McInnis' office said there already was plenty of federal money to take out dead
and dying trees and to clean up the forest floor near homes and rural towns.

Critics disagree and say the bill, now in the Senate, won't alter the
conditions that burned 600,000 acres and 388 homes in Colorado last year.

"The Front Range of Colorado is a focus nationally for protecting homes and
public safety," Twiss said. "If you are not focusing on that area, the red
zone, your perspective is skewed.

"If you want to aggressively reduce fire fuels, you need new ... (cont)