Murkowski ‘irritated’ with U.S. Forest Service

...Murkowski is unhappy with the U.S. Forest Service, and doesn’t mince words when talking about it. “We’ve got the chief of the Forest Service who comes before the committee, he said what we need to do in these communities that were once timber dependent is we need to diversify,” she said. “Tourism is what it’s all about. And then, the Forest Service turns around and cuts the number of permits that the air taxi operators are able to offer tours – cut them from 25 percent from year prior?” The state’s senior senator in Washington, D.C., also is worried about obtaining Forest Service permits for regional projects, including hydroelectric dams and mines. She said Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell needs to visit Southeast Alaska to understand why certain options, such as using helicopters for dam construction, aren’t practical. “I don’t think he has any concept of how you do this in a place like the Tongass,” she said. “You don’t call it Misty Fiords for nothing."...more