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04/22/2005:

"President Bush Marks Earth Day"

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush is celebrating Earth Day with one of his favorite pastimes - working the land.

The president, who often is at odds with environmentalists, was scheduled to celebrate their holiday on Friday in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He was to speak at the Cades Cove area near Townsend, Tenn., after some quick restoration work on one of more than a dozen trails that originates there.

``I'm looking forward to getting my hands dirty,'' Bush, who spends hours during his down time clearing brush on his Texas ranch, told young people awarded for their environmental work at the White House on Thursday. ``Looking forward to getting outside of Washington.''

Bush is the first sitting president to visit the park since Franklin Roosevelt dedicated it in 1940, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. McClellan said the trip marks the 22nd national park that Bush has visited since taking office, a record for sitting presidents.

McClellan said Bush would use his speech to emphasize the importance of personal environmental stewardship, volunteerism and cooperative conservation efforts.

``One of the greatest responsibilities in a free society is responsible stewardship of our natural environment,'' Bush said at the White House ceremony. ``All of you have taken that duty seriously. You have set a clear and strong example, and you're inspiring others to do their part.''

Environmentalists say Bush is not being a responsible steward by pushing for more timber, oil and gas from public lands and relying on the market rather than regulation to curb pollution.

Bush's ``healthy forests'' law lets companies log large, commercially valuable trees in national forests in exchange for clearing smaller, more fire-prone trees and brush. His ``clear skies'' proposal would give power plants, factories and refineries more time to reduce air pollution. Environmentalists call those labels deliberate misnomers.

But no one disputes that Bush likes to spend his time getting back to nature, especially during his frequent trips to his 1,590-acre Texas ranch. There he'll spend hours fishing and cutting down cedar trees with a chain saw to give the native oaks more water and light.

During a visit to the Santa Monica Mountains near Los Angeles in August 2003, he also did restoration work by shoveling dirt for a few minutes to fix a trail.

Full Article: counterpunch.org

shoveling dirt and cutting down trees...