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Jeff Miller
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Joined: 22 Nov 2001
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Location: Mental Ward for the Mentaly Unstable 6th floor, Saint John's 1615 Delaware Longview Washington 98632
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 Thu Aug 21, 2003 9:56 am Local News: Wildfires reroute Bush Oregon forest visit |
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| Quote: | 06:13 AM PDT on Thursday, August 21, 2003
By kgw.com and AP Staff
Wildfires in Central Oregon will keep President George W. Bush from touring a forest site there to deliver a planned speech on forest policy Thusday afternoon.
Bush, as part of a Northwest swing, was scheduled to visit the Camp Sherman area in the Deschutes National Forest -- but that was before two wildfires erupted Tuesday, with one of them burning within eight miles of the speechsite.
As of late Wednesday, Bush still planned to deliver his forest policy speech -- but the White House Press Office said he will make his remarks instead at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond, Ore.
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, planned to attend the president's forest policy address. But a spokesperson for Kulongoski could not immediately offer any details, including whether or not the governor would support the Bush proposal to increase logging as a means of wildfire prevention.
Earlier in the day, Bush will appear in Portland for a fund-raiser that marks the start of Oregon's 2004 presidential race. The noon-hour fundraiser could net Bush as much as $1 million.
Portland police said they were preparing for what could be a rowdy day of protests by various environmental and political activist groups over the president's Portland visit.
Organizers of Thursday's fund-raiser at the University of Portland's Chiles Center said that more than 500 people have signed up to attend the $2,000-a-plate luncheon.
Molly Bordonaro, northwest regional chairwoman for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, said many of the givers are first-time contributors to a Republican candidate.
"It shows the depth of support that this president has in Oregon," Bordonaro said.
Thursday's visit will mark Bush's eighth trip in the past four years to Oregon, a traditionally Democratic state that Bush narrowly lost to Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 election.
All sides agree Oregon will be highly competitive in the 2004 presidential sweepstakes.
As if to underscore that point, Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean will be visiting Oregon only a few days after the Bush visit.
The former Vermont governor is to hold a private fund-raiser Sunday in Portland, then attend an outdoor rally at Portland State University.
Former Gov. Barbara Roberts, co-chairwoman of Dean's Oregon campaign, predicted a large turnout for Sunday's rally and said it's "great timing" that Dean will be in Oregon so soon after Bush.
"He gets to come in and say, `You heard what the president told you. Now let me tell you what's really happening to our economy, our environment and our civil rights,' " Roberts said.
Portland pollster Tim Hibbitts said Oregon will be a very competitive state in 2004 and that it's understandable that Bush is making an early push to try to bring Oregon into the Republican column.
"It's a smart move, because Oregon is going to be doable for him," Hibbitts said.
Meanwhile, Portland police were estimating that Bush's appearance at the University of Portland could draw anywhere from 1,500 to 20,000 protesters.
Portland police are coordinating crowd control with the Secret Service and they will be joined by officers from six other agencies, including the Oregon State Police.
Portland Police Chief Mark Kroeker said there will be enough officers on hand to ensure safety but they will avoid interfering with the protest as much as possible.
"We are there to guarantee the right to free expression," Kroeker said. "It's our duty, and we will do it."
Environmental activists weren't waiting until Thursday to get their message out. They conducted a news conference in Portland on Wednesday to criticize the Bush administration's track record on protecting forests.
They said his Healthy Forests Initiative, which calls for thinning in forests to prevent wildfires, is a ploy to allow the harvest of old-growth timber.
"Bush's fire risk management plan is simply a cover to protect the timber industry," said Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope.
After the forest policy address in Deschutes County, President Bush will stay overnight at an undisclosed location in Central Oregon, then leave for Washington state Friday morning.
(kgw.com graphic) |
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| ~Tony Montana wrote: | | You know what you need people like me people for you to snub your nose at and point at saying there is a bad man. Well guess what This bad man is leaving. Say goodnight to the BAD MAN! |
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Qgirl
Captain
Joined: 08 Jun 2003
Posts: 554
Location: Florida
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| Sat Aug 23, 2003 6:37 pm |
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I hear that Bush wanted to THIN the forests, so that when wildfires started they wouldn't have much fuel to feed on.
I personally think that's stupid !!
 Thin the forests !!! How could he even think of that.
Well of course this is the president who wanted to drill for oil in Alaska, and off the coast of Fl in the Gulf of Mexico. 
What else could you expect from a Republican president. 
*sigh* sorry for the rant, had to get a little steam out of me.
Any way I don't know thats a part of his plan for sure. I did just hear it.
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Jane's the way
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Jeremy
J's Guy
Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 7823
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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| Tue Aug 26, 2003 2:15 pm |
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He could have meant that they make a gap in the trees so that the fire couldn't jump and burn more. I'm not sure because I don't know the context of it though.
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Qgirl
Captain
Joined: 08 Jun 2003
Posts: 554
Location: Florida
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| Tue Aug 26, 2003 7:42 pm |
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| 1Jer wrote: | | He could have meant that they make a gap in the trees so that the fire couldn't jump and burn more. I'm not sure because I don't know the context of it though. |
I hope so. The way I took it was that he was going to thin the forest by cutting down trees. I hope I'm wrong.
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Jeff Miller
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 22 Nov 2001
Posts: 23947
Location: Mental Ward for the Mentaly Unstable 6th floor, Saint John's 1615 Delaware Longview Washington 98632
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| Tue Aug 26, 2003 11:26 pm |
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so what if we do cut down trees?
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