Corporate Crime in America's Forests
12/24/97
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Headline: Corporate Crime in America's Forests
Source: The Environment News Service
Date: 12/24/97
Copyright 1997: ENS, Inc.
WASHINGTON, DC, December 24, 1997 (ENS) - More than 120 environmental and
citizens organizations Tuesday sent a letter to Vice President Al Gore, the
Secretary of Agriculture, Dan Glickman, and the head of the Forest Service,
Mike Dombeck, asking them to start defending the national forests from
corporate timber theft - the crime of stealing trees from public lands.
The groups claim looting by industry has led to environmental devastation
from criminal clearcutting. They estimate losses to American taxpayers of up
to $100 million each year.
The letter was signed in solidary with six Forest Service investigators from
the defunct Timber Theft Investigations Branch (TTIB), whose Whistleblower
Protection Act lawsuit is scheduled for a February 1998 hearing. The
coalition asked for a meeting with administration officials to revive the
agency's dormant environmental law enforcement program against crime in the
nation's forests.
One of the signatories to the letter, Tom Devine, legal director of the
Government Accountability Project said, "In the Christmas spirit, we ask the
Administration to start defending the national forests again from criminal
corporate clearcutting and multi-million dollar theft."
In April 1995, then Forest Service Chief Jack Ward Thomas abolished the TTIB
without warning. At the time the TTIB was conducting three major
investigations of multi-million dollar corporate timber theft. In 1993, the
unit's investigation led to a successful $3.2 million lawsuit, the largest
victory in agency history.
The 1995 abolition of the TTIB was delayed until after completion of
confirmation hearings for Agriculture Secretary-designate Dan Glickman. Then
the surprise announcement was explained to the public as expanding a
regional investigative unit into a truly national commitment. But no agents
have been trained in dealing with corporate timber theft, and the average
value of prosecutions has fallen since then to about $1,500 each.
Another of the signatories to the letter, Jeff Ruch, executive director of
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) commented, "One
wonders what the priorities of Forest Service leadership are, if protecting
the national forests from timber theft isn't one of them."
In October, a similar network of 64 organizations expressed support for the
Forest Service whistleblowers, the Clinton Administration did not respond.