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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Hollywood Superstars Denounce B.C. Clearcuts

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

5/12/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE

Rainforest Action Network continues to intensify their campaign in support

of the British Columbian, Canada, Temperate Rainforests, recently enlisting

a large group of Hollywood notables to speak out on the issue. A

significant portion of the clearcut forests are used for paper pulp,

including phonebooks. A large source of information concerning the

campaign to protect Clayoquat Sound and other BC temperate rainforests can

be found at the "Gaia Forest Conservation Archives" at:

http://forests.lic.wisc.edu/forests/links/canada.html

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

For immediate release: May 10, 1996

Contact: Mark Westlund, ranmedia@ran.org; Tamar Hurwitz, ranla@ran.org

HOLLYWOOD SUPERSTARS DENOUNCE

B.C. CLEARCUTS IN NEW YORK TIMES AD

Some of the biggest names in Hollywood have signed on to support Clayoquot

Rainforest Coalition's campaign to save British Columbia's temperate

rainforests from clearcutting. In a full-page ad in the West Coast edition

of todays' New York Times-Monday, May 13-film makers and environmental

groups urge B.C. lawmakers to take real measures to end forest destruction.

The ad is timed to correspond with B.C. elections. Annually, major

Hollywood studios spend over $400 million in B.C. while filming on location

in the province.

The following actors, producers, and directors have signed on to the ad: Ed

Asner, Ed Begley Jr., Tom Cruise, Ted Danson, Dana Delany, Laura Dern,

Richard Donner, Lauren Shuler Donner, Ted Field, Matt Frewer, R.W. Goodwin,

Daryl Hannah, Woody Harrelson, Lisa Henson, Paul Jackson, Kathleen Kennedy,

Nicole Kidman, Ali McGraw, Frank Marshall, Penny Marshall, Mike Medavoy,

Donna Mills, Robert Redford, Rob Reiner, Tim Robbins, Alex Rose, Steven

Seagal, Martin Sheen, Mary Steenbergen, Oliver Stone, Barbra Streisand,

Harvey Weinstein, Paula Weinstein, Barbara Williams, Lili Fini Zanuck, and

Richard D. Zanuck.

"What's going on in the rainforests of British Columbia is a travesty of

nature," says director Oliver Stone. "Every minute, another acre of forest

is cut down. I personally have become involved with this issue because it

outrages me to see thousand year old trees decimated for newspapers and

disposable Yellow Pages."

B.C.'s natural crown jewel, Clayoquot Sound, has been at the center of an

international controversy over the past few years. As of last year, logging

in Clayoquot Sound is supposed to adhere to recommendations by a B.C.

government-appointed science panel, including reductions in the size of

clearcuts. However, the most important parts of Clayoquot Sound-its

pristine rainforest valleys -are still slated for logging and clearcutting

continues, inflicting extensive damage on the delicate rainforest

ecosystem. The partial protection applies only to Clayoquot Sound, which

comprises .1 per cent of B.C.'s total forests. The rest of B.C.'s forests

enjoy no authentic protection at all.

The Hollywood celebrities outline concrete measures which British Columbia

lawmakers could undertake to address the destruction of these great forests

which are among the last remaining natural forests anywhere in the world.

These include protection for Clayoquot Sound's pristine areas, drastically

reducing the rate of logging in B.C. and dramatically increasing the

percentage of rainforest protected.

The Clayoquot Rainforest Coalition, which includes Rainforest Action

Network, Greenpeace, Natural Resources Defense Council, Coalition for

Forests, Pacific Environment and Resource Center, and Friends of Clayoquot

Sound, has been working to protect the ancient rainforests of Clayoquot

Sound on Vancouver Island, and throughout British Columbia.

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This document is a PHOTOCOPY and all recipients should seek permission from

the source for reprinting. 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.org/gaia.html

Networked by:

Ecological Enterprises

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