Tree-removal funds see dip
By Kelly Rush, The Sun Staff Writer
A federal spending bill approved by Congress this week includes $5 million to remove dead and diseased trees in the San Bernardino National Forest next year.
The funding is $25 million less than the allocation the U.S. Forest Service received this year to reduce hazardous fuels from the nation's most urbanized forest, officials said.
The $26.3 billion plan, poised to be sent to President Bush for approval, is for the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency.
San Bernardino National Forest officials said they hoped to receive more to complete projects in areas of high fire danger in the mountains.
Jim Specht, spokesman for Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, said the congressman will look to include extra funds for the forest if a supplemental spending bill is initiated. However, the Forest Service actually received more than it asked for.
"In the budget documents we have seen from the Forest Service and the president's budget, there is no direct request specifically for fire suppression in the San Bernardino Mountains,' Specht said.
"They do have an account nationally for fuels reduction. I would hope ... the agency intends to spend money out of its overall budget on fuels reduction (there.)'
Officials with the Forest Service's national office could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Ruth Wenstrom, a Forest Service spokeswoman in San Bernardino, said the agency will have treated more than 10,000 acres of land by October. The agency will be able to work on far fewer acres next year, she said.
"We're grateful that Congress is still thinking about the needs we have here it's certainly more than we used to get before the tree mortality problems started,' she said.
"At the same time though, we have lots of additional needs and lots of community safety issues that won't be addressed (in 2006) if we get $5million.'
She said the Forest Service has been unable to complete thinning or clearing projects in many mountain communities, including Arrowbear Lake, Big Bear Lake, Crestline, Running Springs and Valley of Enchantment.
"We've been focused around Lake Arrowhead, but there are a lot of other mountain communities we haven't gotten to,' she said. "We have a lot of fuel treatment we need (to complete) so we can better protect these communities.'
Several of these areas were devastated by fire in 2003 when more than 250 homes were razed by flames in the mountains.
Also included in the federal spending plan is:
$2.5 million for state and local forestry grants for fuel reduction around the San Bernardino National Forest.
$2 million will help pay for the relocation of the San Bernardino National Forest's headquarters to the former Defense Finance and Accounting Center buildings at Tippecanoe Avenue and Mill Street in San Bernardino.
