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Let your friends know about Heritage Forests Campaign
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Heritage Forests Campaign News Release
February 14, 2002
Contents:
Bush Watch - 286 Days and Still No Sign of a Rule
Bush Budget - Bush Faces Tough Questions on Charter Forests
In the States - Agreement on Bitterroot, Trouble in Alaska
Editorial roundup - Criticism on Fire Policy and Enviro Rollbacks
Bush Watch - 286 Days and Still No Sign of a Rule286 days have passed since Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman promised to uphold the roadless rule with minor changes, but there is still no sign that Bush administration will keep its word and announce its proposed revisions. Meanwhile, the Forest Service continues to issue obscure directives that roll back significant forest protections.
Bush Budget - Bush Faces Tough Questions on Charter Forests"Sen. Ron Wyden, who heads a Senate Energy subcommittee on forests, demanded more information about the pilot program in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman."
Reuters News Service, February 12, 2002
"Environmentalists are suspicious, and they have good reason to be. The proposal comes from an administration that has shown virtually no sensitivity to environmental concerns and has been disconcertingly eager to roll back some of the forest protections enacted under the Clinton administration."
Editorial, The Valley News, Concord, N.H., February 9, 2002
"The Bush administration's budget contains an obscure section that advocates removing sections of national forest land from the national forest system to form new “charter forests” that would be managed by private entities."
The PresidentŐs Budget, U.S. Department of Agriculture, page 117, February 4, 2002
In the States - Agreement on Bitterroot, Trouble in Alaska
Montana
"Environmental lawyers, Forest Service managers and loggers ducked behind closed doors for two days and two nights in marathon court-ordered mediation. They emerged late this week blurry-eyed but with a compromise. The Forest Service will reduce the amount of salvage logging it originally planned by about two-thirds, but there will still be enough trees cut to keep sawmills in western Montana busy for months to come."
Tom Banse, National Public Radio Weekend Edition, February 9, 2002
Alaska - Tongass Logging Injunction
"A federal court hearing will be held this week to look at the impact of an injunction against logging in the Tongass National Forest."
Associated Press, February 13, 2002
"Last year [federal district court judge] Singleton ruled that the Forest Service violated federal law in 1997 as it updated the Tongass Land Management Plan by failing to consider some roadless areas eligible for wilderness designation by Congress. The judge then issued a temporary injunction that halted logging on the Tongass for nearly two months."
Associated Press, February 13, 2002
Alaska - Chugach Forest Plan Delayed by Wilderness Opponents
"A final revision of the Chugach National Forest management plan was due to be unveiled last month. But a congressional audit has delayed the process, and forest officials don't expect its release until at least March."
Elizabeth Manning, Anchorage Daily News, February 11, 2002
"Like most forest plans, the one for the Chugach has been controversial. The revision has taken four years and cost about $4 million. During that time, the agency collected about 33,000 written comments plus spoken testimony gathered at more than 200 meetings."
Elizabeth Manning, Anchorage Daily News, February 11, 2002
"The latest draft of the forest plan has called for setting aside nearly a third of the forest as wilderness, including part of the Copper River Delta. Most of the rest of the delta was given a status similar to wilderness. The delay of the plan concerns environmentalists and some tourism industry representatives. They fear the audit will be used by the Bush administration to undo work done under the Clinton administration."
Elizabeth Manning, Anchorage Daily News, February 11, 2002
Editorial roundup - Criticism on Fire Policy and Enviro Rollbacks
On Fire…
"The Forest Service's long-existing policy of fire suppression, largely to save trees for future logging, has served to create a massive amount of fuel in the forests that poses a far greater fire threat than would otherwise exist. Fire is part of the natural ebb and flow of life in a forest, and to suppress them, in addition to being costly, also serves to inflict more damage on the forest and ultimately lead to much hotter, more dangerous fires."
Editorial, The Harrisburg Patriot, February 12, 2002
"The American taxpayer, in effect, is underwriting fire protection for homes built in fire-prone areas that should have been off limits to development."
Editorial, The Harrisburg Patriot, February 12, 2002
On Rollbacks…
"Our president, vice president and many appointees are linked to the energy industry, and proposed changes indicate they're trying to make life easier for their old buddies and maybe themselves. There appears to be little concern for protection and preservation of our natural resources. It reeks of looking out for your own and lack of ethics, which is depressingly similar to the Enron debacle."
Joanne Ditmer, Columnist, The Denver Post, February 10, 2002
# # #
Contact: Tony Iallonardo, NET
(202) 887-8855
The Heritage Forests Campaign is an alliance of conservationists, wildlife advocates, clergy, educators, scientists, and other Americans working together to uphold protection of our National Forests. Heritage Forests Campaign's partners include Alaska Rainforest Coalition, American Hiking Society, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, National Environmental Trust, National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, US PIRG, and The Wilderness Society.
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