muppetfreak12
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December 23, 2003
Greenpeace Blasts Decision to Exclude Tongass from Roadless Rule
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration announced today that it would exclude the Tongass National Forest from the landmark Roadless Area Conservation Rule, despite overwhelming public support for keeping the forest intact. In keeping with the administration's practice of "stealth" policy moves, the change was made with little fanfare in the midst of the Christmas holidays to avoid public scrutiny.
"It's ironic that, at a time when trees are celebrated as a symbol of the holidays, President Bush gives the crown jewel of the national forest system to timber barons as a Christmas gift," said John Passacantando, Executive Director of Greenpeace. "President Bush had pledged to uphold the Roadless Rule. Now he has taken the definitive step to gut it by excluding our largest national forest. The Tongass is as important to the world as the Amazon rainforest, and President Bush wants to open it up to large-scale industrial logging. This is another example of this administration's complete disregard for the wishes of the American people and America's environment."
The Roadless Rule was enacted by President Clinton in 2001 after three years of study and more than 600 public meetings across the nation. Americans submitted a record number of public comments - more than any other administrative action - with more than two million in favor of upholding the rule. Anticipating Bush's moves to weaken the Rule and exclude the Tongass, Greenpeace sent its largest ship, the Esperanza, to Southeast Alaska earlier this year to investigate and document pristine areas that face clearcutting.
President Bush is also planning to allow western governors to exclude national forests in their states from the Rule, which has the potential for opening up 85 percent of land that should be protected from road building and logging. The exclusion of the Tongass from the Rule comes on the heels of the passage of the so-called "Healthy Forests Initiative," a Bush-endorsed measure designed to further open public lands to industrial logging. Bush has also gutted the Northwest Forest Plan and the Sierra Nevada Framework, forest management plans that place conservation before commercial exploitation.
Furthermore, the administration is undermining Americans' right to oversight of public lands and their right to peaceful protest. In a move unprecedented in U.S. history, John Ashcroft's Justice Department has indicted an entire organization - Greenpeace - for the peaceful protest activities of its members. Greenpeace is fighting the charges as a case of selective prosecution and an attempt by the Bush administration to stifle non-violent dissent.
"These lands belong to the American people, not to the Bush administration's buddies in the timber industry," said Passacantando. "Americans will not sit idly by while our natural heritage is sold off for short-term profits and our rights are trampled."
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Greenpeace Blasts Decision to Exclude Tongass from Roadless Rule
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration announced today that it would exclude the Tongass National Forest from the landmark Roadless Area Conservation Rule, despite overwhelming public support for keeping the forest intact. In keeping with the administration's practice of "stealth" policy moves, the change was made with little fanfare in the midst of the Christmas holidays to avoid public scrutiny.
"It's ironic that, at a time when trees are celebrated as a symbol of the holidays, President Bush gives the crown jewel of the national forest system to timber barons as a Christmas gift," said John Passacantando, Executive Director of Greenpeace. "President Bush had pledged to uphold the Roadless Rule. Now he has taken the definitive step to gut it by excluding our largest national forest. The Tongass is as important to the world as the Amazon rainforest, and President Bush wants to open it up to large-scale industrial logging. This is another example of this administration's complete disregard for the wishes of the American people and America's environment."
The Roadless Rule was enacted by President Clinton in 2001 after three years of study and more than 600 public meetings across the nation. Americans submitted a record number of public comments - more than any other administrative action - with more than two million in favor of upholding the rule. Anticipating Bush's moves to weaken the Rule and exclude the Tongass, Greenpeace sent its largest ship, the Esperanza, to Southeast Alaska earlier this year to investigate and document pristine areas that face clearcutting.
President Bush is also planning to allow western governors to exclude national forests in their states from the Rule, which has the potential for opening up 85 percent of land that should be protected from road building and logging. The exclusion of the Tongass from the Rule comes on the heels of the passage of the so-called "Healthy Forests Initiative," a Bush-endorsed measure designed to further open public lands to industrial logging. Bush has also gutted the Northwest Forest Plan and the Sierra Nevada Framework, forest management plans that place conservation before commercial exploitation.
Furthermore, the administration is undermining Americans' right to oversight of public lands and their right to peaceful protest. In a move unprecedented in U.S. history, John Ashcroft's Justice Department has indicted an entire organization - Greenpeace - for the peaceful protest activities of its members. Greenpeace is fighting the charges as a case of selective prosecution and an attempt by the Bush administration to stifle non-violent dissent.
"These lands belong to the American people, not to the Bush administration's buddies in the timber industry," said Passacantando. "Americans will not sit idly by while our natural heritage is sold off for short-term profits and our rights are trampled."
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