A group of Oregon timber executives forked over $100,000 each to the Republican Party last week in exchange for a 45-minute chat session with GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush. The executives, who have been unhappy with the Clinton-Gore administration’s forest policy, sought assurances that Bush would listen to their concerns if he becomes president. Ken Rait of the Oregon Natural Resources Council: “They’re just trying to buy their way back into the unfettered logging of the 1980s on federal lands.” Meanwhile, a number of grassroots enviros in the Northwest who say the administration has compromised too much on environmental issues are contemplating a protest vote for Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, which could help Bush win some key Western states. “I don’t believe there should be logging in federal forests, period,” Nader said during a recent campaign stop in California.
