Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Granite Bay, this week introduced a bill to speed salvage logging within the 400-square-mile burned area of the Rim Fire.

McClintock says the bill is needed because lawsuits by environmentalists or regulatory hurdles could otherwise delay such logging so long that the wood inside dead trees would no longer be usable.

At least one environmentalist, however, says he supports massive salvage logging. John Buckley, executive director of Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center, says McClintock’s bill could actually spark resistance to legitimate salvage logging because it contains provocative provisions that would allow logging within wilderness areas in Yosemite National Park.

Trying to allow heavy logging equipment into Yosemite’s back country could spark opposition to the salvage logging that needs to be done in working national forest lands that are not wilderness areas, he said.

McClintock’s bill, HR3188, would exempt salvage logging operations within the fire area from administrative review and from being challenged with lawsuits. It would also waive such logging from being delayed or prevented by existing laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and laws governing timber management for Yosemite National Park.

From Recordnet.com: https://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130929/A_NEWS/309290310/-1/A_NEWS14