ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602260110
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SEATTLE
SOURCE: Associated Press
Under pressure from environmentalists, President Clinton called Saturday for repeal of legislation he signed last summer opening the way for logging thousands of acres of prized old-growth trees in national forests.
It was an election-year turnabout for Clinton in a state crucial to his hopes for winning a second term. The so-called salvage logging provision was part of a budget bill that Clinton reluctantly accepted.
The issue has become an urgent concern among environmentalists. Clinton announced his position at the last stop on a trip financed by his re-election campaign through California and Washington.
``We believe there should be a repeal of cutting in ancient old-growth forests,'' White House press secretary Mike McCurry said. He said the administration will ask Congress either for replacement timber allocations for companies with valid contracts to cut in old-growth forests, or buyout authority to stop the cutting.
Earlier in Long Beach, Calif., Clinton promoted the idea of requiring youths to wear school uniforms as a way to make teen-agers ``stop killing each other over designer jackets.'' He directed the Education Department to distribute a manual to all of the nation's 16,000 school districts suggesting how they could make school uniforms mandatory.
The timber provision, suspending most environmental safeguards in national forests, was promoted as a way of culling dead trees and fire-prone underbrush. But thousands of prized, healthy trees also are being targeted for commercial cutting.
Environmentalists have charged the provision is a bonanza for the timber industry and threatens severe ecological damage to public forests from coast to coast.
In Seattle, Clinton appeared with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates to announce a corporate gift to 32 community colleges across the state.
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