$1 billion timber slush fund or fair trade deal?
Lawsuit, U.S. senators want details on Bush administration deal
By ROBERT McCLURE
P-I REPORTER
Is it an illegal $1 billion slush fund for Bush administration friends in the timber industry, extorted from Canada and designed to evade congressional oversight?
Or is it a fairly negotiated end to an expensive trade war that's "the best thing that has happened to private forest land conservation in the United States in 100 years?"
It depends on your point of view. Now, a federal lawsuit filed in Seattle is bringing more scrutiny to the controversial deal. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is spearheading a Senate effort to get more information about who got the money and what they're doing with it.
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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/360970_timber29.html