Across the Nation

Alaska forest added to protection plan

WASHINGTON - In a major win for environmentalists, the Clinton administration has added Alaska's Tongass National Forest - the nation's largest - to a protection plan for some of America's most pristine lands.

The plan covers 58.5 million acres of national forests that do not have roads. It prohibits road-building; bans logging except when such activity is deemed to help maintain or improve areas; seeks to improve habitats for threatened, endangered or sensitive species; and attempts to reduce the risk of severe wildfires.

In Alabama, the plan would protect 13,000 acres, most of them in the Sipsey Wilderness area of Bankhead National Forest and the Dugger Mountain and Cheaha areas of the Talladega National Forest. The 13,000 acres is about 1.9 percent of the 665,000 acres of land in Alabama's four national forests.

The Forest Service said the protection plan would not reduce the timber harvest or the number of jobs involved in the harvest within Alabama's 13,000 designated acres. Environmentalists have been pressing for years for a road ban because they believe the pathways increase erosion, disrupt wildlife habitat and make it easier for logging trucks and mining operators to reach remote public lands.

A draft of the plan in May covered 43 million acres - an area the size of Washington state - but delayed until 2004 a decision on whether to include the 8.5 million roadless acres in the Tongass. Under the new plan, the protections would be extended to the Tongass in 2004.

Police use of force goes to high court

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court entered the debate over police brutality yesterday, agreeing to clarify when officers can be held legally responsible for using excessive force while making an arrest.

The Clinton administration says a lower court ruling means police officers "in many cases, may use no force at all'' in arresting someone. The justices agreed to hear the government's bid to throw out an animal-rights activist's lawsuit against an officer who arrested him during a 1994 speech by Vice President Al Gore.

"This case boils down to whether it's going to be a judge or jury who decides whether police used excessive force,'' said attorney J. Kirk Boyd, representing activist Elliot Katz, who was arrested when he unfurled a banner during Gore's speech on a military post.

The justices' decision, expected next year, is likely to be of great importance to police forces nationwide.

High-profile allegations of abuse have been made in recent years against police departments in cities including New York City and Los Angeles. This month, Los Angeles officials agreed to make changes aimed at eliminating brutality and other abuses and to accept an independent monitor of the city's police department.

Work-related injury laws under attack

WASHINGTON - Business groups and GOP lawmakers said government rules proposed yesterday to protect workers from job-related injuries could cost industry billions of dollars each year.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules take effect Jan. 16, but businesses will have until October to comply.

The rules are intended to protect against workplace injuries for more than 100 million workers who perform repetitive functions such as typing, working on an assembly line, sliding groceries past scanners or lifting heavy loads.