Where I Stand: Dr. Craig’s medicine a real killer for forests, Nevadans

Thursday, July 25, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

SEN. LARRY CRAIG, R-Idaho, is doing his best to make Nevada a "temporary" nuke waste toilet. Of course, Nevadans know that this would be the first step in making Yucca Mountain the place all of the deadly junk will be dumped on during the coming century.

For this reason, Nevada Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan are fighting night and day against the scheme concocted by Craig and his cohorts.

Craig's S1936 is called "unfair, unneeded and unworkable" by White House chief of staff Leon Panetta. In a letter to Craig, Panetta wrote:

"In S1936, the Nevada Test Site is the default site, even it proves to be unsuitable for the permanent depository. This is bad policy. This bill has many other problems, including those that present serious environmental concerns. The bill weakens existing environmental standards by preempting all federal, state and local laws and applying only the environmental requirements of this bill and the Atomic Energy Act. The results of this preemption include: replacing the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to set acceptable radiation-release standards with a statutory standard considerably in excess of the exposure permitted by current regulations, creating loopholes in the National Environmental Policy Act, and eliminating current licensing requirements for a permanent repository."

Appealing to Craig's possible concern for the environment won't make much of an impact on the man from Idaho. It was Craig's timber industry-sponsored "clearcut rider" last year that has done more permanent damage to our nation's forests and watersheds than any recent wildfire. He and the timber industry sold the idea that only "dead and dying trees" would be cut. Actually, it suspended environmental safeguards and, during the last year, the big timber outfits cut down thousands of healthy and mature trees after the U.S. Forest Service conducted timber sales. Good examples of resulting damage took place in places like the Elk River salmon habitat.

Now Craig wants to keep and expand the damage his rider has done the past 12 months. This time, it's S391, which he calls the Federal Lands Forest Health Protection and Restoration Act. About the only things it will do is make the bank accounts of the timber industry healthy and destroy even more healthy forest stands and watersheds.

The National Forest Protection Campaign undresses Craig's "forest health" bill when declaring that his prescription could kill the patient. Furthermore, recent scientific studies show that a "forest health crisis" doesn't exist. Dr. Arthur Partridge, professor of forest disease at the University of Idaho, is quoted saying, "The chief culprits behind any harm to our national forests are not fire, disease or bugs but excessive, poorly planned logging, road building, fire suppression and other detrimental human activities."

Craig, playing doctor, has already contributed to the death of large stands of healthy trees, and now advocates even larger doses of his medicine. He's the same character who is trying to provide a prescription that will have a disastrous effect on the lives of Nevadans.

The best I can say about Craig is that he sure isn't very neighborly. When it comes to our national forests and the residents of Southern Nevada, he makes Dr. Kevorkian look like a nice guy.

Don't forget the open house fund-raiser at Life Line, 1500 E. Tropicana Ave., Suite 205 (FCFC Building). It will be this Saturday from 3-4:30 p.m. and will be hosted by Rep. John Ensign, County Commissioner Lorraine Hunt and state Sen. Sue Lowden. It's a good cause, and there will be refreshments. ... Glynn Dunlap says that Saturday, Sept. 28, at 7 a.m., the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation will hold its Walk for the Cure. It starts at the MGM Grand theme park. Call 732-4795 for more information. ... Last Sunday, I listened to Col. David G. Young III explain the roles of the Nellis Federal Hospital meeting needs of the Air Force and the Veterans Administration. Since his arrival here last year, that new facility has improved 100 percent, and it's getting better all the time. The 99th Medical Group has several important missions and must be prepared for any military emergency. ...

Gordon Thiesen wants the public to know that the Enterprise Township Petitioners Committee will be holding open-house meetings on Aug. 4, 19 and Sept. 3. The meetings are scheduled for 5-8:30 p.m. in the conference room of the Enterprise Library, 25 E. Shelbourne Ave. ... Did you lose a perky blue heeler/Australian shepherd mix with a white tip on her tail? She's about 4-6 months old with very dark short hair and pointed ears, and has been well cared for by somebody, but was lost near the Excalibur. Call Heidi, 597-7054 days, or 731-4252, 5-8 p.m.