U.S. Forest Policy Is Set to Change, Aiding Plum Creek Timber Co. Shift Would Let Firm Pave Logging Roads in Montana

The Bush administration appears poised to push through a change in U.S. Forest Service agreements that would make it far easier for mountain forests to be converted to housing subdivisions.

Mark E. Rey, the former timber lobbyist who heads the Forest Service, last week signaled his intent to formalize the controversial change before the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. As a candidate, Obama campaigned against the measure in Montana, where local governments have complained of being blindsided by Rey’s negotiating the policy shift behind closed doors with the nation’s largest private landowner.

Scenic western Montana, where Plum Creek owns 1.2 million acres, would be most affected, placing fresh burdens on county governments to provide services and undoing efforts to cluster housing near towns.

Plum Creek Timber Co. http://www.plumcreek.com/

By Karl Vick
Washington Post Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/03/AR2009010301715.html?hpid=sec-nation