🚀 go-pugleaf

-------------- Enclosure number 1 ----------------
LOGGING WITHOUT LAWS #116, from WAFC, the Western Ancient
Forest Campaign, (202)789-2844x291 or email WAFCDC@igc.apc.org

Thursday, September 19, 1996, the 420th Day of Lawless Logging

105 SIGN:  Letters signed by 105 Representatives were sent to President
Clinton and the House Leadership calling for an end to the Rescissions Act
Timber Rider as part of the 1997 spending agreement which must be reached
between the Congress and White House before October 1.  Among the
members of Congress who signed the letter, sponsored by Rep. Elizabeth
Furse (D-OR), were Republican Reps. John Kasich, John Porter, and
Sherwood Boehlert. The letter was delivered to the White House by forest
activists today.  

WHO ARE THE RADICALS?:  Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) has asked
her colleagues to take a stand against "another large Corporate Welfare abuse"
by signing a letter to House Speaker Newt Gingrich criticizing the federal
timber sales program.  Citing the cost of federal timber sales, the phoniness of
the "forest health" argument, and the role of responsible wood usage in
meeting wood product needs, McKinney's letter says "it is unwise to continue
the logging of national forests, especially under the deceptive rationales posed
by some recent legislation.  Please oppose any logging bills masquerading as
'forest health' legislation," the letter concludes.  The letter will be available
for signatures through Monday; McKinney's office is asking for help from
forest activists in securing additional signatures on the letter from House
Members.  

GRASSROOTS WORKSHOP:  A workshop for WA state grassroots activists
will be held this weekend at the Beaver Creek campground on the Okanogan
NF, about 7-8 miles west of Loup Loup Summit on Highway 20 east of Twisp
WA.  Topics will include community organizing, monitoring and field work,
media, and legislative challenges.  The program begins Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

CHIEF DEFENDS AGENCY:  The role of the Forest Serice in implementing
the Rescissions Act Logging Rider passed by the Congress was an example
cited by Forest Service Chief Jack Ward Thomas in blaming politics "for
much of the controversy surrounding forest management," the AP reports. 
Thomas made his comments at a conference on NFMA at the University of
Colorado's Natural Resources Law Center this week.  Thomas warned against
demonizing the Service.  "This demonization (of the Forest Service) is on the
verge of bringing down this agency," Thomas said.  "We need some support."

"MODEL" SALE?:  The Granite Creek Salvage Sale on the Chuguch NF in
Alaska was proposed as a "model" salvage sale by the Forest Service, but a
statement by The Wilderness Society's Alaska office says that the sale has
turned out to be an "accurate model" in a different way than the agency
anticipated.  After logging of the sale began, a smoldering pile of slash flared
out of control and burned over 100 acres.  The Forest Service spent $35,000
fighting the fire, even though they received only $22,000 for the trees from
the timber company.  In August, the Ipps beetle attacked uncut trees on the
site "which were in a weakened condition because of removal of the forest
canopy."  TWS says that the agency "should drop its other logging proposals
[in the Chugach N.F.] immediately, for the health of the Granite Creek area
would be vastly improved today if the agency had simply done nothing." 
Newspaper coverage of the sale's problems appeared on the front page of the
Anchorage Daily News.