🚀 go-pugleaf

LOGGING WITHOUT LAWS BULLETIN #89, from WAFC, the
Western Ancient Forest Campaign.  Call (202)789-2844x291 or email
WAFCDC@igc.apc.org
 
Friday, June 21st (Summer Solstice), 1996, the 299th Day of Lawless
Logging
 
FURSE AMENDMENT LOSES BY TWO:  By a razor thin edge, the
House yesterday rejected an amendment offered by Reps. Elizabeth
Furse (D-OR) and John Porter (R-IL) to halt funding for the Timber
Clearcut Rider.  The amendment was defeated by a 209-211 margin,
with 50 Republicans supporting it but 36 Democrats opposed.  Also
defeated by the slimmest of margins was an amendment by Rep.
Joe Kennedy (D-MA) to cut $50 million from the Interior
Appropriations bill for road building in National Forest roadless
areas.  It is anticipated that a similar amendment to cut funds for
rider sales may be offered when the Interior spending bill is taken
up in the Senate in July.  In addition, another opportunity to vote
on rider repeal in the House may be possible.  "Clearly the votes
are there in the House to stop the rider," says Steve Holmer,
WAFC campaign coordinator.  "With a little more time to
communicate what how much of America's forest legacy is at risk
from the Clearcut Rider, we can and will win the next House vote
on rider repeal."
 
SOUTH MANTI SALE NOMINATED:  The Utah Chapter of the
Sierra Club has nominated the massive South Manti sale to the
nationwide list of the 200 worst logging rider sales.  The sale will
log 71 million board feet of dead and live Engelmann spruce from
the Wasatch Plateau in the Manti-La Sal NF in Utah.  "This sale is
the largest in Utah history, is exempt from appeal and will rob Utah
families of their natural heritage while bloating the federal deficit,"
says Nina Dougherty, conservation chair of the Utah Chapter. 
"How can this not be the poster child of salvage sales in Utah and
the intermountain region."
 
WASHINGTON FORESTS AT RISK:  An audit of the pending
timber sales under the Timber Clearcut Rider in Washington State
has been published by the Western Ancient Forest Campaign.  The
report shows that, even with the decision by the 9th Circuit to
block Section 318 marbled murrelet sales under the rider, there are
still 14 environmentally destructive sales in Washington that should
be stopped.  The sales are in the Gifford Pinchot, Wenatchee,
Okanogan, and Colville National Forests; they include sales in
roadless areas, prime lynx habitat, and sensitive watersheds for bull
trout and other valuable fisheries.  "This audit demonstrates why it
is urgent that the Congress repeal the Timber Clearcut Rider, and
the President use his authority to stop pending sales," says Jessica
Hamilton, WAFC's Western organizer. 
 
CLINTON IS ASKED TO CANCEL SALES:  A list of almost 100
rider sales that should be cancelled in California, Oregon, and
Washington States was delivered to top Administration officials in a
pair of meetings last week with Western forest activists.  Additional
lists of damaging sales to be cancelled for Idaho, Montana, and
other states is being prepared.  One meeting was held with
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman; the other with CEQ Chair
Katie McGinty and officials from the OMB and White House
political office.  Glickman had previously told the National Audubon
Society annual meeting that he "does not intend to allow the
salvage rider to be a ruse to cut green timber," and invited
information from forest defenders about abuses.  He also announced
plans to send a "fact finding" delegation to the west in the near
future to investigate how the rider is being implemented.  Glickman
also expressed concern about fire; activists encouraged him to study
the SNEP report on that issue.