Other Action Requests and Alerts

Posted 9/17/2003

Sept. 23: National Call-in Day to Oppose the "Healthy" Forest Initiative. 

Protect Sound Science and Public Participation on the Monongahela National Forest! Please call Senator Byrd and Senator Rockefeller on September 23, 2003 and ask them to oppose HR 1904, the "Healthy Forests Restoration Act," and support a better alternative for community protection. Calls are urgently needed, as there is a very high likelihood that the Senate will take up HR 1904 in September.

You can call Senators Byrd and Rockefeller any day, of course, by calling the capitol switchboard number at 202-224-3121 but on Tuesday, Sept. 23 we'll have a FREE 1-800 number you can use and you'll be joining with national forest activists all over the country. (That number will be posted soon.)

The so-called "Healthy Forests Restoration Act," HR 1904, has a very high likelihood of being taken up by the Senate in September. It is up to us to call on our elected leaders to stand up and protect forests and to stop the reckless assault on our National Forests by the Bush Administration. In May, when the bill was before the House of Representatives, West Virginia Representative Nick Rahall called the bill "an unprecedented attack on our judicial system and the right of Americans to appeal actions by their government which they feel are unjust."

We need to keep up the pressure. Please mark your calendars so you remember to make that call and pass the news onto all your friends. The goal of the National Call-in Day is to get as many calls and faxes as we possibly can to the Senate to block efforts to pass the Bush Administration's Healthy Forests Initiative.

Tips for your call: Hello, I would like to speak with the environmental legislative assistant (LA) about how Senator Byrd plans to vote on the upcoming Senate vote on HR 1904.

To LA - I'm calling to urge Senator Byrd to vote no on the Senate version of HR 1904. I'm concerned that this bill does nothing to protect rural homeowners from wildfire. Instead it plays on the public's fear of fire to limit citizen participation and undermine our nation's environmental laws in order to increase logging on America's National Forests.

I specifically have 4 areas of concern with the so-called Healthy Forests and Restoration Act of 2003 (HR 1904), this bill will:

1. Not ensure any increased protection for communities at risk from fires. Protecting communities and lives must be the top priority for fire legislation.

2. Focus logging in the backcountry miles away from communities at risk.

3. Take away citizens democratic right to participate in decisions about how our public lands are managed.

4. Interfere with the Independent Judiciary by restricting the public's democratic rights to seek redress in the court involving grievances with the federal government for damaging logging projects.

How do you expect Senator Byrd to vote? Thank you for your time and consideration.

SAMPLE LETTER (TO FAX OR EMAIL) 
Senator Byrd Fax: (202) 228-0002 
Senator Rockefeller Fax: (202) 224-7665

Dear Senator (insert name),

Very soon the Senate will be asked to vote on legislation that recently passed the House of Representatives entitled the "Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003" (HR 1904). I urge you to oppose HR 1904. The Bush Administration and many proponents of HR 1904 continue to dramatize last year's fire season in an attempt to advance timber industry proposals. Like the Bush Administration's falsely labeled "Healthy Forests Initiative," HR 1904 seeks to undermine environmental review, waive meaningful public participation, and interfere with our independent judiciary in order to favor big timber companies over community protection. For example, HR 1904, in an unprecedented attempt, changes the standard of judicial review to prevent courts from stopping harmful projects on lands managed by the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), thereby tipping the scales of justice to favor the timber industry and wiping out over a century of legal precedent.

There is a better way. Please co-sponsor the "Forestry and Community Assistance Act of 2003" (S. 1453) introduced recently by Senators Leahy (D-VT) and Boxer (D-CA). This alternative provides the necessary funding to assist at-risk communities by thinning small diameter trees and brush in the Community Protection Zone directly around a community's structures and their drinking water supply systems. Instead of logging the largest, fire resistant trees far away from communities - which, according to the country's top forest scientists actually increases fire risk and makes fires larger and more intense -- S. 1453 focuses fuels reduction work immediately within this defensive Community Protection Zone. According to the Forest Service's own research, this approach is the only proven method to protect lives and homes and is the best use of taxpayer resources.

In addition and in contrast to HR 1904, the "Forestry and Community Assistance Act" (S. 1453) establishes and funds watershed and forest restoration programs without eliminating citizens' from the forest planning process and without gutting environmental laws. S. 1453 protects forests that are currently healthy and fire resilient such as old-growth and roadless areas, and prohibits road construction on these ecologically valuable lands. In summary, S. 1453 will save taxpayer dollars by prioritizing fuels reduction work where it will actually benefit communities, expedites fuels reduction projects directly around communities while retaining critical environmental safeguards and laws, keeps public lands in the public's hands, promotes and funds true watershed and forest health restoration, and protects pristine areas from logging and road building.

Please oppose HR 1904 and support a better approach to protecting communities and our forests by endorsing the "Forestry and Community Assistance Act (S. 1453). Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely, 
[First Name] [Last Name] 
[Address] 
[City], [State] [Zip]

More information at www.americanlands.org  or contact joshua@americanlands.org.