For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 23, 2002
Statement by the President
I commend Secretary Norton and Secretary Veneman for their strong
leadership in addressing the widespread problems of declining forest
health and the risk of destructive wildfires, particularly in the West.
Today's conference, highlighting the completion of the Ten Year
Comprehensive Strategy Implementation Plan, marks an important new
cooperative effort between the federal government, states, local
governments, Native American Tribes, and concerned citizens and
organizations.
Working together, we will promote sound forest
management to restore forest health and make the recreational
opportunities and resources of our forests more accessible. In many
areas, this will require active forest management efforts to thin our
forests of excessive natural fuels and restore native vegetation to our
forests and rangelands.
Our goal is to reduce the threat that wildfires pose to homes,
communities and the environment. Severe drought conditions in many
areas of the United States make it essential that we cooperate in our
efforts to fight fires and reduce the fuel loads that cause them.
Cooperation will also enable us to move forward on other important
endeavors, such as improving the performance of the Northwest Forest
Plan. I thank Governor Kempthorne and Governor Kitzhaber for their help
in crafting this bipartisan agreement and for hosting this important
conference.
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