Bush plan to streamline forest rules nears completion

Managers of the nation's 155 national forests are getting more leeway to approve logging and other commercial projects with less formal environmental review under a Bush administration plan on track to be in place by the end of the year.
A final draft of the new forest management rules obtained by The Associated Press drew immediate fire from environmentalists. They accused the administration of bowing to the timber and paper industries and weakening standards for protecting endangered or threatened species.
The new rules will be reviewed by the White House's Office of Management and Budget before going into effect this fall.
The plan would overhaul application of the landmark 1976 National Forest Management Act, which sets the basic rules for management of nation's 190 million acres of forests and grasslands and protects forest wildlife.
The final rules would leave intact some of the most controversial proposals from an earlier version released last November. Like that version, the final plan would give regional managers of the Forest Service more discretion to approve logging, drilling and mining operations without having to conduct formal scientific investigations known as environmental impact statements...