Pristine Forests

The Bush administration just returned control of 58.5 million acres of forested land to the states where the forests actually are located. That sounds like a pretty good idea to me, and many of the states had sued to get that control back after the Clinton administration took it away and added to the size and power of the federal government.

So what headline does the N&O run? "Pristine forests lose protected status." Not only is the headline right out of the tree-hugger's playbook, it is also untrue. The forestland has not lost its protected status. The protector has simply changed from the federal to the state government.