|
by Marie Dolcini
It was a rough year for America's forests. The Sierra Club, like other
environmental groups, was forced to play defense against congressional
and industry-backed attacks, and thousands of acres of our natural
heritage met blades under the clearcut "salvage" logging rider. But
that was 1996. As we head into 1997, Club forest activists aren't just
working to stem the destruction caused by "logging without laws" --
they're attempting nothing less than a complete overhaul of forest
management.
Historically, forest protection has been among the Sierra Club's
primary issues, but a year and a half of the clearcut rider has
elevated forest management reform to an unprecedented level in the
organization and with the American public. To a large degree, we helped
create a pointed and informed citizen backlash by exposing the details
of the forest free-for-all in anti-salvage editorials and letters to
the editor in newspapers across the country. We focused public outcry
through rallies and postcards, phone calls and faxes to congressional
representatives and Forest Service officials. After losing our first
attempt to stop the rider by 125 votes in March of 1995, we fell just
two votes shy of repealing it in June of 1996.
The stage was set in July of 1995 when President Clinton ignored
environmentalists' protestations and signed the clearcut rider as part
of a 1995 budget-cutting bill. From that point on, all the laws that
protect our forests, including the Endangered Species Act and the Clean
Water Act, were suspended to facilitate "emergency salvage" logging and
huge expanses of green trees were slated for the ax. The arrival of
spring brought the first lawless clearcuts and the resulting ugly
realities of landslides and stream and habitat destruction in the
Northwest.
We filed suit in federal court. We lost. Our champions offered
amendments to repeal the rider on the House and Senate floors. Again,
we lost. The saws raged all summer long. By July the White House was
listening more closely to environmentalists' complaints that healthy
trees were being cut.
Vice President Gore called the rider the worst mistake of Clinton's
first term. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman sub- sequently ordered
the Forest Service to follow new, more protective guidelines. While a
positive step, the Glickman directive fell short of repealing the law
and failed to stop the destruction. As a result, a 1996 year-end
"holiday rush" of some of the most egregious timber sales went forward
before the rider expired.
Despite the fact that the rider died with the new year, the damage will
continue as timber companies attempt to maximize profits by waiting for
a friendly market before cutting trees purchased under the rider's
terms. That means lawless logging will haunt forest activists well into
the future.
"The massive destruction has been heartbreaking," said John Leary,
associate representative in the Washington, D.C., office. "But it's
revitalized conservationists across the country as never before. The
spotlight is shining brightly on the shameless and irresponsible
behavior of the timber industry and the Forest Service. We are now
poised to mount a historic grassroots campaign to protect America's
forests."
That campaign will combine public education, grassroots organizing and
outreach to the media and key decision makers to expose threats to our
forests at the national and state levels. Staff and volunteers plan to
advocate for Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management reform based
on forest ecosystem protection and full public participation. They'll
also coordinate similar efforts with Canadian activists.
The key principles forest advocates aim to rally the public around
include protecting clean water, watersheds and fisheries, eliminating
subsidies and Forest Service slush funds and defending roadless areas
and ancient old-growth. Current projects in the works include a forest
activist tool book and workshops offering training in coalition
building and media outreach.
We're also incorporating a No Commercial Logging Task Force into the
overarching plan. Club members voted by a 2-to-1 margin last April to
support an end to all commercial logging on America's national forests
and other federal public lands. Task force chair Chad Hanson said that
so far, he has elicited promises from 26 representatives to sign onto a
letter sponsored by Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) to end logging in
national forests. "This is the sort of proactive national campaign that
holds the distinct potential to strengthen and invigorate the spirit of
grassroots activism in the Club," said Hanson.
For more information:
Contact John Leary at (202) 675-2382; e-mail:
<john.leary@sierraclub.org>
http://www.sierraclub.org/planet/199701/clearcut.asp
Up to Top
|
