Protected Forests in Danger -- Bush giveaway

[Timber Loftis]

I got this from NRDC. Please use the links if you'd like to help stop the admin from cutting up forests as gifts to timber and utility industries.

[Message for the would be right-wingers: timbering on federal land is done at pennies on the dollar for what the timber indsustry pays on the REAL market. It IS a government subsidy, fondly known as "corporate welfare."]

Dear NRDC BioGems Defender,

Your online action is urgently needed to save some of America's last wild
forests from Bush administration plans for clearcutting and drilling.

Please go to
http://www.savebiogems.org/tongass/takeaction.asp
right away and send a message telling the Forest Service to keep untouched
wildlands in our national forests closed to roadbuilding and destruction.

Four years ago, we helped persuade President Clinton to enact the Roadless Area
Conservation Rule that protects 58 million wild acres in our national forests
that do not yet have roads cut through them.

From Alaska's Tongass rainforest to the Appalachian Trail, from the Rocky
Mountains to the Sierra Nevada, this historic measure put some of America's
greatest sanctuaries for wildlife and for people off limits to road building,
logging and drilling so that their timeless beauty would remain untouched
forever.

The roadless rule was the most popular conservation measure in history.
Americans flooded the Forest Service with more than 1.5 million messages of
support.

But today, the Bush administration is preparing to override the will of the
American people. It has announced plans to eliminate the roadless rule and
strip some of America's last wild forests of their special status and
protection.

The administration's agenda is no secret. It is lining up massive timber and
energy sales that will send an armada of bulldozers and chainsaws, as well as
oil and gas rigs, into our last untrammeled forests.

We must not surrender our forests without a fight. We need millions of
Americans to speak out once again in defense of our wild forests.

The Bush administration is taking public comments until September 14th on its
disastrous plan to reopen our wild forests to logging. The Forest Service needs
to hear from people like you, people who know that nature is a fragile gift we
hold in trust for future generations.

Please go to
http://www.savebiogems.org/tongass/takeaction.asp
right away and send a message telling the Forest Service to uphold the roadless
rule and defend our wild forests. Then forward this message to as many of your
friends and family as possible and tell them to speak out, too.

For the sake of our forests, please make your voice heard today.

Sincerely,

John H. Adams
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

[Nightwing]

It blows me away that with all the open land in this country, the Bush admin. needs to go after our forests. The only reason I could think of them doing this is profit. I have not heard any rational explanation for doing this.

[Timber Loftis]

Actually, it's NOT profit. The government loses money on these deals. It's about repaying favors to campaign contributors. Nothing more.

[Nightwing]

You scratch my back I'll scratch yours. It's nice to know if I had a large business I to could buy my public official.

[Felix The Assassin]

TL, this IS SOMETHING to post about.
I will pass it along once I'm certain of it's validty. It's ironic that we force march miles on end with a 25lb ruck, and 50lbs of gear attached to our bodies like the 'Beverly Hillbillys' truck, then on down time we hike into these picturesque areas with a 55lb ruck just because.

[Jonas Strider]

For some voters its the economy, the War, healthcare, etc. My number one reason for voting Bush out this year is his lack of protection for our environment. Yes the protecting the environments is more important for me than the economy. It has an impact on all of us on every level whether anyone realizes or not. I've seen many documentary, news, first hand accounts, etc of how we are erroding and destroying our environment. It's sad also to hear some people not think much about it. Thanks for the link Timber.

[The Hierophant]

Well, as a 'citizen of the world' I'm just as disgusted with this roading plan as you are Timber. I've got my letter printed and ready to send... Nationality is irrelevant when it comes to the needless destruction of entire ecosystems.

[ 09-01-2004, 04:04 AM: Message edited by: The Hierophant ]