STOP Bush from Easing Logging Rules.

President Bush toured woodland devastated by wildfires and proposed easing environmental reviews and other rules to speed the removal of timber from fire-prone U.S. forests.

The White House called the proposed changes proactive forest management that would apply to 190 million acres of forest and range land deemed especially vulnerable to wildfire due to dense forest and dry conditions.

Critics said the plan showed contempt for the environment and would give windfall profits to the timber industry. A dozen protesters waved placards reading, "More forest, less Bush," as the president's motorcade passed by.

"What critics need to do is come and see firsthand the effects of bad forest policy," Bush said. "It's a crying shame. We've got to do a better job."

By reducing the density of forests, the administration hopes to prevent devastating wildfires like the one ignited by lightning on July 13 that swept through Squires Peak near Medford, Oregon.

Jim Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the plan would speed forest-thinning projects by allowing agencies to enter into long-term contracts with logging companies. Such contracts would allow logging firms to keep wood products in exchange for thinning surrounding areas of unhealthy trees and brush.

"The fires are burning with greater speed and intensity. This fire season is one of the worst in history," said Connaughton, adding that forest density and drought conditions have created "bonfire, tinderbox conditions" in many forests.

"It's ecologically catastrophic," Connaughton said, citing dangers to fish, endangered animals, plants and air quality.

CUTTING RED TAPE

This year only 2 million acres of forest have been thinned. At that rate, Bush said, it would take a century to thin out the forests singled out by his plan.

"That's far too long as far as I'm concerned," Bush said, standing atop of Squires Peak. "We must cut through the red tape and endless litigation."

Looking down from the peak to the valley below through binoculars, Bush saw vast tracts of burned trees with scattered areas of green -- areas that survived the fire because they had been previously thinned.

Before arriving in Oregon, Bush took an aerial tour of the 471,000-acre Biscuit Fire, the largest in Oregon's modern history. Air Force One flew low over the scorched hills. Intense smoke and emergency fire vehicles were visible below. Later, Bush met firefighters who battled the Squires blaze that burned over 2,800 acres of forest and cost more than $2 million to suppress.

The White House called Squires -- home to the threatened spotted owl and more than 3 million board-feet of commercial timber -- a case study in how legal and regulatory hurdles have undercut forest safety. It said it took six years of analysis, 830 pages of documentation, several court appeals and two lawsuits before fire-prevention work was allowed to begin.

Bush will propose removing such regulatory red tape and reducing environmental reviews, arguing lives are at stake.

This year, wildfires in Oregon and elsewhere have scorched more than 6 million acres of forest -- an area the size of New Hampshire and twice the annual average.

In all, they have destroyed more than 2,000 buildings, prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands, and killed more than 20 firefighters.

The White House estimated that 190 million acres of federal forests and range lands in the lower 48 states face "high risks of catastrophic fire" due to drought and other adverse conditions.

Environmentalists see Bush's plan as an attempt to remove older trees that are coveted by large timber companies.

William Meadows, president of the Wilderness Society, blasted Bush for an "irresponsible anti-environmental agenda."

"The truth is that waiving environmental laws will not protect homes and lives from wildfire -- history and science clearly demonstrate that clearing fuels away from the immediate area around homes is the best protection," Meadows said.