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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Next Assault on U.S. National Forests Starts with Alaskan Tongass

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

May 23, 1995

OVERVIEW & SOURCE

An Alaskan Forest protection group is calling for support in their

effort to prevent the Tongass National Forest being opened to

intense industrial forestry practices. This vast coastal

rainforest is a 17-million acre national treasure, harboring North

America's largest remaining populations of salmon, bald eagles and

grizzly bears and a healthy, growing regional economy based on

renewable resources. The Alaskan Congressional delegation is

putting forward plans to dismantle the Tongass Timber Reform Act

of 1990, a law that guarantees the Tongass is managed for

balanced, multiple-use: providing for hunting, fishing, tourism

and recreation, as well as a sustainable timber industry. This

item was posted in econet's en.alerts conference.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

/** en.alerts: 103.0 **/

** Topic: Next Assault on National Forests St **

** Written 11:40 AM May 16, 1995 by akrain in cdp:en.alerts **

NEXT ASSAULT ON NATIONAL FORESTS STARTS WITH TONGASS!

Rich Timber Companies And Their Buddies In Congress Are Going

After America's Largest And Wildest National Forest, The Tongass:

And Your National Forest Will Be Next!

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Robin Hood must be rolling over in his grave. First it was the

"salvage bill." Now they are going after the

Tongass, America's flagship national forest.

Last November, Alaska's Senator Frank Murkowski and Representative

Don Young took over chairmanships of the Congressional committees

controlling our national forests. They have a plan to take the

national forests away from the people and give them to rich,

multi-national timber companies. Not just the trees, but even the

land itself! This is how they intend to do it:

First, attack the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. This vast

coastal rainforest is a 17-million acre national treasure,

harboring North America's largest remaining populations of salmon,

bald eagles and grizzly bears and a healthy, growing regional

economy based on renewable resources. They plan to dismantle the

Tongass Timber Reform Act of 1990, a law that guarantees the

Tongass is managed for balanced, multiple-use: providing for

hunting, fishing, tourism and recreation, as well as a sustainable

timber industry.

Senator Murkowski says he will use the Tongass as a test case.

This Thursday, May 18th, Senator Murkowski will begin a series of

hearings in which he intends to ask the Senate Energy and Natural

Resources Committee to:

1. Mandate as much clearcutting as it takes to meet Tongass

timber industry "demand," no matter what;

2. Suspend environmental laws so the Forest Service can't listen

to its own fish and wildlife scientists; and

3. Take away 1000 square miles of the best Tongass lands,

supposedly protected forever in the Tongass Timber Reform Act, and

turn them over to private corporations for clearcutting.

The Tongass Timber Reform Act was a bi-partisan compromise

supported by the entire Senate and four-fifths of the House!

If this reasonable, widely-supported legislation can be undone, no

national forest is safe. At least, that's what Murkowski and

his friends hope.

Why? Because they want to mandate clearcutting-at-all-costs in

the other national forests... just like the nationwide mandate

in the recent "salvage" rider to HR 1158(Recissions Bill).

According to Rep. Young, they even hope to give the national

forests away outright to states, counties or big timber companies.

Well, if it works in the Tongass....

And if this wasn't enough, we still subsidize their clearcutting

with our tax dollars. Like many National Forest programs, Tongass

timber is sold below fair market value, causing a taxpayer loss.

In the Tongass, the situation reaches its absurd pinnacle: two-

thirds of the timber is sold to one company, Louisiana-

Pacific/Ketchikan, under a 50-year monopoly. This corporate

welfare costs the federal government $40 million every year, on

average, and the Tongass consistently leads all National Forests

in money losses attributable to timber. Congress should cut, not

increase, this subsidy, even if it benefits their corporate

friends.

Would Robin Hood rob the people to subsidize clearcutting of

Sherwood Forest by the rich?

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YOU CAN HELP SAVE THE NATIONAL FORESTS, STARTING WITH THE TONGASS!

Please call, fax or write your Senator and Representatives asking

them to support Tongass conservation, balanced use of public

lands, and fairness to taxpayers. Ask them to protect the Tongass

Timber Reform Act and to vote against any other attempts to

mandate logging or give away our great American forests:

To write your Senators:

The Honorable Senator (name)

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

To write your Representative

The Honorable Representative (name)

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20515

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Thanks from your forest conservation allies in Alaska!

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You are encouraged to utilize this information for personal

campaign use; including writing letters, organizing campaigns and

forwarding. All efforts are made to provide accurate, timely

pieces; though ultimate responsibility for verifying all

information rests with the reader. Check out our Gaia Forest

Conservation Archives at URL=

http://forests.lic.wisc.edu/forests/gaia.html

Networked by:

Ecological Enterprises

Email (best way to contact)-> gbarry@forests.org

Phone->(608) 233-2194 || Fax->(608) 231-2312