The Gortons and Slades - Washington Secretary of State

who gives A hoot? 259
the South.’ . . . As for the notion of Gorton as populist, let’s give the trees
and spotted owls a vote; even at a 3/5 discount, Slade may have to rethink
the nature of his constituency.” 14
Larry Mason, the enterprising leader of the Clallam County delegation,
said timber country was hugely unimpressed with Brock Adams’
response to the crisis. Adams promised that in trying to find a compromise
he was “carefully listening to all sides of the issue—something the
responsible members of the Northwest congressional delegation are trying
to do.” That was unmistakably a dig at Gorton, who was arguing that
a report by Jack Ward Thomas, a respected Forest Service research biologist,
and other federal scientists, was heavily biased in favor of the owl.
Environmentalists were pleased the report called the owl “imperiled,” but
many of them said it still didn’t go far enough. “Human beings are also
imperiled,” Gorton insisted. 15
Adams signed onto a plan drafted by Senator Mark Hatfield and his
fellow Oregonian, Democratic Congressman Les AuCoin. Catching the
environmentalists at loose ends, their bill did an end-around on Judge
Dwyer, unlocking a billion board feet he had placed off limits. The plan,
Section 318, also mandated the sale of an additional 8 billion board feet by
the fall of 1990. It was appended to the 1990 funding package for the Forest
Service and Bureau of Land Management. Outmaneuvered—at least
temporarily—the environmentalists waived their right to appeal. They
called it “The rider from hell.” 16
The Hatfield-Adams legislation was enacted on Oct. 23, 1989. A few
days later, Dwyer lifted his preliminary injunction. He did not, however,
relinquish his jurisdiction over the case and demanded a recovery plan.
Indiana Congressman Jim Jontz, the bane of the timber industry, warned
that their victory would be short-lived, saying, “I personally consider the
ancient forests as much a part of our nation’s heritage as the Grand Canyon
or the Everglades.” As an effigy of Jontz was consigned to a bonfire in
Hoquiam, Bill Pickell, general manager of the Washington Contract Loggers
Association, shouted “May he burn in hell!” 17
in the suMMeR of 1990, as the Fish & Wildlife Service rule designating
the owl as a threatened species went into effect, Gorton negotiated with
Bush’s chief of staff, John Sununu, to convince the president to convene a
task force. To the distress of environmentalists, the secretaries of the Interior
and Agriculture—both Bush appointees—announced that timber
sales would continue for the remainder of the year. By September 1, they
hoped to have a less restrictive plan for harvest levels in Fiscal Year 1991,