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WORLDWIDE
BIODIVERSITY/FOREST CAMPAIGN NEWS
U.S.--
"Sufficiency Rider" Suspends Federal Laws in Timber Grab
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Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
March
23, 1995
OVERVIEW
& SOURCE
Following
is Greenpeace's coverage of the Taylor Sufficiency Bill
now
before the U.S. Congress. "The
'Taylor Salvage Rider' to a
new
appropriations bill orders an additional 6.2 billion board
feet
cut from publicly owned national forest and BLM land in the
next
two years." This was posted in
econet's gp.press conference.
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RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
/*
Written 5:00 PM Mar 22, 1995 by web:greenbas in
igc:gp.press
*/
/*
---------- "03/15 US:Logging of Public Lands" ---------- */
************************
GREENPEACE PRESS
RELEASE
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>> PASS A LAW, LOOT THE FOREST, CHARGE THE
TAXPAYER
House Bill to Mandate Massive Taking of
Public Lands
"Sufficiency
Rider" Suspends Federal Laws in Blatant Timber Grab
SAN
FRANCISCO, March 15, 1995 (GP)
Subsidized timber corporations
will
gorge themselves on public lands if a bill now being
considered
in the House becomes law this week. The "Taylor Salvage
Rider"
to a new appropriations bill orders an additional 6.2
billion
board feet cut from publicly owned national forest and BLM
land in
the next two years. The cut trees would
be enough to fill
a
column of log trucks halfway around the world.
In
addition to tremendous forest destruction, the rider amendment
uses
"sufficiency" language to decree that all federal laws, like
the
Endangered Species Act, are suspended for the purposes of the
bill.
"If
Congress wants to talk takings, let's talk takings," said
Kelly
Quirke, coordinator of Greenpeace USA's temperate forest
campaign.
"This is an insidious taking of public lands, for the
profit
of industrial timber corporations, brokered by the United
States
Congress."
If the
Taylor Rider passes, the estimated cost to taxpayers could
be as
high as $1 billion. Profits to the timber industry, which is
already
heavily subsidized, would be astronomical, as the
commercial
worth of the average old-growth tree is $5000.
In the
past week, dozens of environmental and forest activist
groups
have mobilized to alert the public about this rider.
Greenpeace
alone has contacted over 30,000 citizens in one week.
Thousands
of calls have been made and letters faxed to Congress
and
members of the Rules Committee to express grassroots
opposition
to the Taylor Salvage Rider.
"Congress
is using its Contract as a smoke screen to sneak this
destructive
rider through the House," said Quirke.
"This vote
will
show whether Congress members represent their grassroots
constituents
or corporate timber."
# # #
CONTACT:
Kelly Quirke, San Francisco, (415) 512-9025
Cynthia Rust, Seattle, (206)
632-4326
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