Tongass Reprieve

Surprising, at least, if not exactly stunning.

In a stunning bipartisan effort, last night the House of Representatives voted to limit money to build logging roads in the Tongass National Forest. The amendment to the FY2005 Interior Appropriations bill, sponsored by Reps. Steve Chabot (R-OH) and Robert Andrews (D-NJ), won by a vote of 222 to 205. The amendment is supported by a broad coalition of taxpayer and budget watchdog groups, sportsmen and conservationists.

Subsidized logging in the Tongass National Forest has cost American taxpayers millions – in 2002 alone, the Forest Service spent $36 million on the Tongass logging program and received only $1 million in revenue. Over the past two decades, losses have reached over $750 million.

I've read elsewhere that the revenues were closer to $2M, but the point remains.

Bush is losing support from a once-solid core constituency: sportsmen. I think they're realizing there's less of a chance they'll lose their guns than they'll lose their hunting grounds.