SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest nomination for a top state job overseeing California's forests has galvanized opposition from environmentalists, who say the choice underscores the administration's increasingly evident tilt toward the timber industry.
On Thursday, Schwarzenegger nominated Nancy Drinkard to the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, which is charged with overseeing parks, forests, watersheds and other California wilderness resources not under federal authority.
Several environmentalists and a forester who dealt with Drinkard when she previously worked as a senior state forestry official in Santa Cruz said she was often openly hostile to activists and far too sympathetic to the timber industry.
"She was involved in supporting the timber industry's violation of rules on a consistent basis," said Jodi Frediani, chairwoman of the forestry task force for the Sierra Club's Santa Cruz chapter. "She showed great contempt for the public. Various agency personnel were appalled at her attitude toward the forest practice rules and for the cozy relationship she had with the industry."
Drinkard's nomination comes as conservationists have been increasingly upset by Schwarzenegger's actions over forestry matters. At the end of budget negotiations with legislators this summer, Schwarzenegger, who has touted himself as a "green" governor, dropped his plan to add $10 million in logging fees in the face of industry opposition. He also attempted to trim state reviews of logging plans, but legislators rejected the idea.
Schwarzenegger's California Performance Review, a panel charged with restructuring state government, has recommended eliminating the nine-member forestry board. Board members are paid $100 for each day they work setting the state's forestry goals.
Schwarzenegger has also tapped timber industry officials for some of the most powerful jobs overseeing the state's environment. Jim Branham, Cal/EPA's undersecretary, came from Pacific Lumber, where he was the company's lobbyist. Melinda Terry, the former lobbyist for the industry's trade group, the California Forestry Assn., is in charge of legislative affairs at the state Resources Agency.
"The timber industry seems to have had their stock rise dramatically under this administration," said Paul Mason, the forestry representative for Sierra Club California. "I wonder about the industry lobbying groups, because it seems all of their people are going into the administration."
