The latest Black Hills deal, it appears, was primarily geared to help Daschle's South Dakota colleague Tim Johnson, himself only slightly to the left of Attila the Hun when it comes to environmental issues, fend off a stiff Republican challenge for his senate seat from the green-bashing Rep. Jim Thune, who is currently the state's sole congressional representative. Of course, this scenario only works if green Democrats vote for Johnson in spite of his capitulations to the timber and mining industries.
It's an old story, one we've recounted time and again, that's taken an even darker, though entirely predictable, turn. The Black Hills are one of the most butchered national forests in the West. Less than 5 percent of the forest remains in an old-growth condition, the rest is fragmented by clearcuts and logging roads. Most of the remaining old-growth forest is located in the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve and the Beaver Park Roadless Area. In the 1990s, the Forest Service planned massive timber sales for both places.
The battle to save the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve goes back almost ten years, a back and forth war of appeals and lawsuits that culminated in 2001 with a landmark ruling by the 10th circuit court of appeals that the Norbeck timber sales were illegal. The environmentalists also won a court case stopping the Beaver Park sales.
It's an old story, one we've recounted time and again, that's taken an even darker, though entirely predictable, turn. The Black Hills are one of the most butchered national forests in the West. Less than 5 percent of the forest remains in an old-growth condition, the rest is fragmented by clearcuts and logging roads. Most of the remaining old-growth forest is located in the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve and the Beaver Park Roadless Area. In the 1990s, the Forest Service planned massive timber sales for both places.
The battle to save the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve goes back almost ten years, a back and forth war of appeals and lawsuits that culminated in 2001 with a landmark ruling by the 10th circuit court of appeals that the Norbeck timber sales were illegal. The environmentalists also won a court case stopping the Beaver Park sales.