Millions coming to repair roads and trails

Senate panel OKs millions for forests

By LISA FRIEDMAN
Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON A key Senate panel approved $34.3 million in emergency funding to repair roads and campgrounds devastated by the winter floods in the San Bernardino, Angeles, Cleveland and Los Padres national forests.

"This is a godsend," said Matt Mathes, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service's California region.

"We completely lost a lot of trails and roads due to landslides and erosion across the national forest in Southern California from the repeated heavy rains this winter," Mathes said. "Entire sections of roads are just simply gone. It was an unprecedented situation."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the funding was attached to an $81 billion emergency-spending bill, chiefly to pay for the Iraq War. But the bill also includes money for tsunami relief, as well as famine aid to the devastated Dafur region of Sudan. .......

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