Full story link: http://www.usda.gov/Newsroom/0360.04.html Release No. 0360.04 Julie Quick (202) 720-4623 Dan Jiron (202) 205-0896 VENEMAN ANNOUNCES TAJIQUE FOREST RESTORATION PROJECT WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2004-Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today announced the Tajique Watershed Restoration Project to restore forest health in the southwestern United States. The project will support over 100 local jobs. The Tajique Project will help implement the President's Healthy Forests Initiative and is the first project in the Southwest to be authorized under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act. "The Tajique Project supports the Bush Administration's efforts to partner with communities in the stewardship of our national forests, " said Veneman. "The result is healthier forests, safer communities and stronger local economies." The Tajique Watershed Restoration Project, located 45 miles southeast of Albuquerque near the Manzano Mountains, proposes to treat approximately 17,000 acres of overgrown pine and juniper forest to reduce wildfire risks that threaten the historic land grant villages of Abo, Manzano, Punta de Agua, Tajique and Torreon, as well as the Pueblo of Isleta. Members of these land grants united to form the Las Humanas Cooperative, USDA's principle partner on the project. The Tajique Project will use the streamlined procedures provided under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act to expedite plans for thinning treatments near the land grant communities. In addition to improved streams and wildlife habitat, local villages will also benefit economically from the project, providing thinning crews and utilizing material removed from the forest to manufacture signs, housing materials and wood pallets and to generate electricity. The project is expected to support over 100 local jobs throughout its five to seven year duration. The Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision for the Tajique Watershed Project is expected to be complete by December 2004. USDA's Forest Service, together with the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management, has restored forest health and decreased the threat of wildfire by reducing hazardous fuels on nearly 300,000 acres in Arizona and New Mexico to date this year. President Bush's Healthy Forests Initiative introduced August 22, 2002, provides the tools to more effectively reduce wildfire risks and restore forest health. They include administrative reforms to streamline project decisions and the bipartisan Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA), the central legislative component to implement HFI, that the President signed into law December 3, 2003. For more information on Healthy Forests Initiative projects and other healthy forests information, see http://www.healthyforests.gov/ or http://www.fs.fed.us/. # USDA News oc.news@xxxxxxxx 202 720-4623 ---------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to oc.news@xxxxxxxx and reference your email address.
