An overwhelming majority of Americans support Pres. Clinton’s proposal to protect 54 million acres of national forests from logging, road-building, and development, according to a poll commissioned by the Heritage Forests Campaign and conducted by American Viewpoint, a leading Republican polling firm. Some 76 percent of 1,000 registered voters surveyed said they were in favor of Clinton’s plan, including 72 percent of voters in the West and 62 percent of Republicans. Clinton’s plan, announced in October, has irritated to no end many Western Republican politicians, some of whom have threatened to cut the budget of the U.S. Forest Service, which is preparing to issue a proposed rule with details of the plan this spring.
