(nklr) protect roadless forests monday! + swell update for th o

[Weaver, Mark]

if i lived in slc, i might consider showing up with a sign supporting reasonable public access to public land. mw

> -----Original Message----- > From: AlertList@... [mailto:AlertList@...] > Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2000 3:10 PM > To: AlertList@... > Subject: PROTECT ROADLESS FORESTS MONDAY! + SWELL UPDATE > > > Utahns and nearby neighbors, item 1 is just for you... > > 1) HELP PROTECT ROADLESS FORESTS, MONDAY MORNING JULY 17 IN SALT LAKE > 2) MONDAY IS DEADLINE FOR WRITTEN COMMENTS ON ROADLESS FORESTS > 3) SAN RAFAEL SWELL BILL SAILS THROUGH SENATE COMMITTEE > > > 1) HELP PROTECT ROADLESS FORESTS, MONDAY MORNING JULY 17 IN > SALT LAKE CITY! > > Please join forest activists from across the country (UT, NC, > WA, NH, MN, > AK, OR) on July 17th (the comment period deadline) when we > present nearly > ONE MILLION postcards in support of the National Forest roadless area > protection policy to the U.S. Forest Service. This will break > the record for > public comment on an administrative rule process! The > previous record for > comments during a similar rule process was 275,000 for the > organic foods > standards in 1998. > > The SLC press event will take place at: > > 10:00 AM, Monday July 17 > at the Federal Building > 125 South State Street > Salt Lake City > > The event will feature a decorated truck carrying close to one million > comments and various speakers from local and regional field > groups. We need > a strong showing of support by local forest activists - This > means you! > Please come wearing your "Wild Utah" buttons. We will have > signs and hats > for folks as well. > > And please send in your individual letters to the Forest > Service TODAY. They > must be received by Monday. For more information go to > www.wufc-utah.org. > Thank you! > > Participants in Monday's Event include: Wild Utah Forest > Campaign, Heritage > Forests Campaign, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Save Our > Canyons, Utah > Chapter of the Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, the > Alaska Rainforest > Campaign, the Technology Project, U.S. Public Interest > Research Group, and > more! > > > 2) MONDAY JULY 17 DEADLINE FOR WRITTEN COMMENTS ON ROADLESS FORESTS > > Last chance, folks: Send your comments to roadlessdeis@..., and > be sure to include your name and mailing address in your comments. > Please make the following points: > > * [*most important item*] The proposed roadless policy needs to be > strengthened so that ALL UNINVENTORIED ROADLESS AREAS are protected. > The presence of a primitive but "classified" road should not > disqualify > an area. > > * Either (a) the policy should explicitly protect > UNinventoried roadless > areas, or (b) the definition of "unroaded" should be changed > so that it > includes all roadless areas, including uninventoried ones. [If this > sounds confusing, blame the Forest Service. They have invented goofy > distinctions between "roadless" and "unroaded".] > > * No logging should be allowed in roadless/unroaded areas. > > * The roadless policy should also apply to the Tongass National Forest > in Alaska. > > * Motorized trails in roadless/unroaded areas should be closed. > > > THE DETAILS... > The proposed roadless policy is a step in the right direction, but it > needs to be significantly strengthened if it is to live up to > President > Clinton's promise to protect all remaining roadless areas. > > An issue of crucial importance to southern Utah, and one that has > received too little attention from other environmental > groups, involves > the definitions -- of "roadless", "unroaded" and "classified road" -- > that determine which areas will be afforded protection by the new > roadless policy. The Forest Service has produced a confusing mess > with these definitions; we do our best to unravel it below. > > Because of inadequacies in past roadless inventories conducted by the > Forest Service, our National Forests contain millions of acres of > uninventoried, wilderness-quality roadless areas. Roadless areas are > defined, by the Forest Service, as areas of at least 5000 > acres which do > not contain "roads suitable for standard passenger-type > vehicles" and do > not contain other significant human impacts (e.g. recent and > significant > logging impacts). Roadless areas are allowed to contain > routes suitable > for only high-clearance vehicles -- jeep trails, or "primitive roads", > as the FS calls them. Uninventoried roadless areas are areas > which meet > the FS's definition of "roadless area", but which were not > catalogued in > the inadequate Forest Service inventories of yore. > > The FS purports to address this problem by extending certain > protections > to "unroaded areas" -- a new category invented for the new roadless > policy. Unfortunately, the definition of "unroaded" differs from the > long-established definition of "roadless" in such a way as to let > millions of acres of de facto, uninventoried roadless area > slip through > the cracks of the proposed roadless policy. Specifically, an unroaded > area is not allowed to contain any "classified road" (another new > definition), and classified roads include, among other things, any > "road" appearing of the Forest Travel Plan, EVEN IF THE "ROAD" IS > PRIMITIVE, IMPASSABLE, OR NEARLY INVISIBLE. Thus > uninventoried roadless > areas are being left out because of faint, primitive jeep > trails. This > problem is especially pronounced in southern Utah's National Forests. > > (We note in passing one good difference between "unroaded" and > "roadless": "unroaded" areas can be less than 5000 acres.) > > ** Even if you have already submitted comments, please submit > additional comments on the above issue. ** > > For more info, see: > > Official FS roadless site: > http://roadless.fs.fed.us/ > Wilderness Society roadless page: > http://www.tws.org/standbylands/forests/roadless_area.htm > WUFC roadless page: > http://www.wufc-utah.org/roadlesscommentsneeded.htm > > The comment deadline is July 17. > > Comments can be submitted via: > > * Email: roadlessdeis@... > > * Regular mail (slightly more effective than email in this case): > > USDA Forest Service-CAET > Attn: Roadless > PO Box 221090 > Salt Lake City, UT 84122 > > * Fax: 877-703-2494 > > > 3) SAN RAFAEL BILL SAILS THROUGH SENATE COMMITTEE > > Without so much as a murmur of opposition, the San Rafael > Not-So-Swell bill > S. 2048 sailed through Sen. Frank Murkowski's (R-Alaska) Committee on > Energy and Natural Resources and was approved by a simple voice vote > Thursday morning. Now it could be headed for a vote on the > Senate floor at > any time -- we'll keep you posted. > > Unfortunately, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico), the ranking > Democrat on > the committee, was not in a position to fight for improvements to this > clunker because he'd promised Rep. Jim Hansen (R-Utah) that > he would help > the Swell bill after Hansen threatened to torpedo the New Mexico > delegation's bill to buy the Baca Ranch for conservation > purposes. We hope > folks in New Mexico will let Sen. Bingaman know of their > disappointment > that he took a pass on this one -- it makes no sense to wreck one > wilderness treasure to save another. > > The version of the Swell bill approved by the Energy > Committee is identical > to that approved by the House Resources Committee -- which > the House of > Representatives overwhelmingly voted to strengthen in order > to protect the > Swell's wilderness. We will do all we can to see that the > Senate amends > this Not-So-Swell bill to fix its major failings -- and if > not, we'll do > everything in our power to stop the "wilder-less" S. 2048 from ever > becoming law. Stay tuned. > > +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- > +-+-+-+-+ > Unsubscribe@... -- send email here and the address from which > you sent the email will be automatically unsubscribed > SubscribeMe@... -- send email here and the address from which > you sent the email will be automatically subscribed > ListAdmin@... -- if the above two email addresses don't do the > job, or if you need to change your address, send email here > AlertList@... -- send general comments or questions here > +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- > +-+-+-+-+ > [174/252] >