Flake Blasts Management Of Forests In Senate Bid

U.S. Republican Senate candidate Jeff Flake last week organized a meeting in Show Low to push for a waiver of environmental laws and regulations to speed up forest thinning and restoration projects in the wake of wildfires. Flake largely blamed lawsuits filed by “radical environmentalists” and the administration of President Barack Obama for failing to cut through “red tape” to undertake large-scale thinning and restoration projects. He highlighted various bills he has sponsored to facilitate forest thinning and restoration efforts and to repeal environmental regulations that have limited cattle grazing and other private economic uses of federal lands. In another position that would have a big impact on Gila County, Flake also called for legislation that would accelerate land trades near Globe to clear the way for what could become one of the world’s largest copper mines. Mostly, Flake called for eliminating “red tape and excessive regulation” to expedite “cattle grazing and forest thinning.” He noted that he has “consistently taken on radical environmentalists who abuse existing law like the Endangered Species Act to stall and prevent fuel reduction projects from moving forward — something the Obama administration and Senate Democrats refuse to do.”...more