WASHINGTON - January 29 - The Bush administration has exempted federal forest managers from a federal law requiring them to consider the environmental impacts of their forest management plans, prompting Defenders of Wildlife to file suit challenging the move.

"Federal forest managers should be held to the same standard as employees of other federal agencies," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife. "This exemption eliminates vital opportunities for the public to understand and weigh in on forest management decisions which profoundly affect wildlife, water, natural resources and the local communities that depend on them."

Forest management plans govern all activities, including logging, drilling, hunting and development, on the 192 million acres of national forests and national grasslands managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) dictates that all federal agencies must consider the environmental impacts of any major federal actions and offer the public an opportunity to comment on those actions. By exempting forest management plans from NEPA, the Bush administration has eliminated the only opportunity that forest managers and the public have to adequately consider the overall, cumulative impacts of individual management actions on Forest Service lands.

"The Forest Service under the Bush Administration has gone further than any other agency in history in attempting to circumvent NEPA by eliminating essential environmental reviews," said Schlickeisen. "The decisions made in forest management plans affect every action on every acre of a national forest. Failing to consider their environmental impacts under NEPA could be disastrous for essential natural resources such as water and wildlife."

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