Unbelievable!
Wow am i shocked!
here is the story as i understand it:
the last remaining 58.5 million acres of wilderness have been opened up to road-building and commercial logging!
here's the article, my comments look like this: ---blah blah---
New Federal Rule Opens Up to 58.5 Million Acres of National Forest Areas to Road Building
5/06/05 4:00PM GMT
By JOHN HEILPRIN , Associated Press Writer
The last 58.5 million acres of untouched national forests, which President Clinton had set aside for protection, were opened to possible logging, mining and other commercial uses by the Bush administration on Thursday.
New rules from the U.S. Forest Service cover some of the most pristine federal land in 38 states and Puerto Rico. Ninety-seven percent of it is in 12 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Governors can submit petitions within 18 months to stop road building on some of the 34.3 million acres where it would now be permitted or request that new forest management plans be written to allow the construction on some of the other 24.2 million acres.
Many officials made it clear much of the land will remain untouched.---bullshit---
"We have no plans to build roads in the roadless areas of the national forests in California. ... Areas are roadless here for a reason," said Matt Mathes, a regional spokesman for the Forest Service in the state.
---well, maybe not yet, but wait until he gets going, with roads, Bush will start to expand---
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said his agency, which includes the Forest Service, will work closely with governors "to meet the needs of our local communities while protecting and restoring the health and natural beauty of our national forests."---yup, sure---
Democrats questioned why governors were getting so much power over land use.---good question---
"Trees, wildlife and fish don't respect state boundaries, and I don't think decisions about management of roadless areas - or other parts of the national forests - should be based on those lines, either," said Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo.
Eight days before leaving office in 2001, Clinton acted to take decisions about roadless forest land away from local federal managers. Environmentalists said the managers often were too close to logging companies and other developers.---good, but so is Bush---
"Any short-term economic gain that would result from turning over these areas to corporate special interests is significantly outweighed by the economic benefit of keeping them intact," said Steve Smith, The Wilderness Society's assistant regional director for Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.
---go steve---
The Forest Service will have final say over the governors' petitions. But the agency is creating an advisory committee to help put the rule in place.---put the rule in its place, ie the garbage---
The agency said petitions from the states could be based on requests to protect public health and safety; reduce wildfire risks; conserve wildlife habitat; maintain dams, utilities or other public works; or ensure that people have road access to their private property.
With the federal courts deeply involved since Clinton's action, the fate of the regulations is in doubt. For example, on Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit heard arguments from environmental groups that are appealing a Wyoming judge's ruling overturning Clinton's move.
---good luck---
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld Clinton's rule. Many of the same issues apply in both cases.
---i heard about the 9th circuit, apparantly radical type, but supportive of pro-environment stuff---
Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey, who oversees forest policy, said the new rule would cut away the legal uncertainty by getting states on the side of the federal government.
He emphasized that the rule probably would not lead to a big spurt of road building. "We've only been constructing a few miles of road each year," he said.
---lets take the 'few miles of road a year' as 10 for example. in five years, that means 50 miles of road, in 10 years, 100 miles of road! this is greatly increasing the radius for companies like loggers in which to work---
Jim Angell, a lawyer with the Earthjustice law firm, said plaintiffs already are lining up to challenge the changes announced Thursday.---and we should join them!---
---Right. Priorities: organise a large amount of people to start up a letter-writing campaign to governors in affected states. Also, perhaps get people to go around collecting signatures of people who do not want this law passed.
I will go to different sites and post this every where i can.
Suggestion: don't just write hate-mail and crap to governors, write with hard facts, something to base reasons on. Don't use too much emotion, but if you do, use rhetoric like you just swallowed a thesaurus.
Good luck---
here is the story as i understand it:
the last remaining 58.5 million acres of wilderness have been opened up to road-building and commercial logging!
here's the article, my comments look like this: ---blah blah---
New Federal Rule Opens Up to 58.5 Million Acres of National Forest Areas to Road Building
5/06/05 4:00PM GMT
By JOHN HEILPRIN , Associated Press Writer
The last 58.5 million acres of untouched national forests, which President Clinton had set aside for protection, were opened to possible logging, mining and other commercial uses by the Bush administration on Thursday.
New rules from the U.S. Forest Service cover some of the most pristine federal land in 38 states and Puerto Rico. Ninety-seven percent of it is in 12 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Governors can submit petitions within 18 months to stop road building on some of the 34.3 million acres where it would now be permitted or request that new forest management plans be written to allow the construction on some of the other 24.2 million acres.
Many officials made it clear much of the land will remain untouched.---bullshit---
"We have no plans to build roads in the roadless areas of the national forests in California. ... Areas are roadless here for a reason," said Matt Mathes, a regional spokesman for the Forest Service in the state.
---well, maybe not yet, but wait until he gets going, with roads, Bush will start to expand---
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said his agency, which includes the Forest Service, will work closely with governors "to meet the needs of our local communities while protecting and restoring the health and natural beauty of our national forests."---yup, sure---
Democrats questioned why governors were getting so much power over land use.---good question---
"Trees, wildlife and fish don't respect state boundaries, and I don't think decisions about management of roadless areas - or other parts of the national forests - should be based on those lines, either," said Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo.
Eight days before leaving office in 2001, Clinton acted to take decisions about roadless forest land away from local federal managers. Environmentalists said the managers often were too close to logging companies and other developers.---good, but so is Bush---
"Any short-term economic gain that would result from turning over these areas to corporate special interests is significantly outweighed by the economic benefit of keeping them intact," said Steve Smith, The Wilderness Society's assistant regional director for Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.
---go steve---
The Forest Service will have final say over the governors' petitions. But the agency is creating an advisory committee to help put the rule in place.---put the rule in its place, ie the garbage---
The agency said petitions from the states could be based on requests to protect public health and safety; reduce wildfire risks; conserve wildlife habitat; maintain dams, utilities or other public works; or ensure that people have road access to their private property.
With the federal courts deeply involved since Clinton's action, the fate of the regulations is in doubt. For example, on Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit heard arguments from environmental groups that are appealing a Wyoming judge's ruling overturning Clinton's move.
---good luck---
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld Clinton's rule. Many of the same issues apply in both cases.
---i heard about the 9th circuit, apparantly radical type, but supportive of pro-environment stuff---
Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey, who oversees forest policy, said the new rule would cut away the legal uncertainty by getting states on the side of the federal government.
He emphasized that the rule probably would not lead to a big spurt of road building. "We've only been constructing a few miles of road each year," he said.
---lets take the 'few miles of road a year' as 10 for example. in five years, that means 50 miles of road, in 10 years, 100 miles of road! this is greatly increasing the radius for companies like loggers in which to work---
Jim Angell, a lawyer with the Earthjustice law firm, said plaintiffs already are lining up to challenge the changes announced Thursday.---and we should join them!---
---Right. Priorities: organise a large amount of people to start up a letter-writing campaign to governors in affected states. Also, perhaps get people to go around collecting signatures of people who do not want this law passed.
I will go to different sites and post this every where i can.
Suggestion: don't just write hate-mail and crap to governors, write with hard facts, something to base reasons on. Don't use too much emotion, but if you do, use rhetoric like you just swallowed a thesaurus.
Good luck---