WVEC Action Alert

May 15, 2006

Below:

Comment Period Deadline Extended --We'll Need You to Comment by May 31
We now have until May 31 to comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Spruce #1 mountaintop removal mine near Blair, W. Va. This is the mine that would destroy Jimmy Weekly's homeplace in Pigeon Roost Hollow. People's work to save this area --the mining has been held off for nine years!-- resulted in some of the earliest national media attention on the coal companies' massacre of our mountains.

Several folks are working on written comments to send to the Army Corps of Rubber Stamping Permits --er -- Engineers. So in case you don't have time to read the 450-page document yourself, we'll send around talking points next week for your use.

If you do have time to read the document, copies of the DEIS (in CD format) may be obtained by contacting USACE Huntington District Regulatory Branch at 304-399-5210 or 304-399-5710. Copies are also available at the Blair Post Office, the Kanawha County Public Library in Charleston and the Logan County Public Library in Logan, WV.

By May 31, send your written comments to:

Mrs. Teresa Spagna
Regulatory Project Manager
Regulatory Branch, CELRH-OR-FS
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District
502 8th Street
Huntington, WV 25701

Be sure to note that you are commenting on "199800436-3-Right Fork of Seng Camp Creek."

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Urgent Action Needed: Tell Congress to Stop the EPA from Cutting Toxic Pollution Reporting

Act now to prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from drastically cutting the amount of information chemical facilities report to the public. The House of Representatives will vote next week on an amendment that would stop the EPA in its tracks.

ACT NOW

Last year, I contacted you about these dangerous proposals. I asked you to tell the EPA to abandon plans to gut the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) program that keeps communities, first responders, and medical researchers informed about toxic pollution.

Your response was resounding! Thanks to you and other concerned citizens, the EPA received over 100,000 individual emails opposing the plan, the most emails the EPA had ever received about an agency proposal. Despite the public outcry and criticism from expert after expert, EPA officials continue to move forward with their plan.

So now the fight has moved to Congress, and I'm writing now to ask you to take one more step to keep this horrendous plan from being set into action.

Contact your representative today and tell him or her to support the Pallone-Solis Toxic Right-To-Know Amendment that will save this invaluable program for public health and safety.

HELP STOP THIS DANGEROUS PLAN

The Pallone-Solis Toxic Right-To-Know Amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill (that decides funding levels for the EPA) would prohibit the EPA from spending any money to implement the changes. By using the "power of the purse strings," lawmakers could stop these dangerous cuts.

I wrote in my last message, and it remains true today, regardless of where you work or live, EPA's plans will affect you--this is about the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the health of you and your family.

The TRI program is widely recognized as a catalyst for creating safer, healthier communities. The EPA wants to cut the program by raising the reporting threshold for most chemicals 10 fold and switching from annual to every other year reporting, slashing the program by more than half.

Tell your representative to vote YES to the Pallone-Solis Toxic Right-To-Know Amendment.

INDIVIDUALS

Write your representatives using our web tool.

Or Call your representative's office directly and tell him or her:

    "I am very concerned about EPA's plans to cut toxic chemical reporting. EPA's proposals are dangerous, unnecessary, and widely criticized by experts. More than 100,000 people have already told EPA to drop the proposal, but they aren't listening. I urge you to vote YES on the Pallone-Solis Toxic Right-To-Know Amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill to send EPA a message."

Hurry! Congress may vote as early as next Wednesday, May 17th.

ORGANIZATIONS

Sign the TRI Letter to Congress below by contacting Clay Northouse, (202) 234-8494.

For more information, visit OMB Watch's TRI Resource Center. Contact Sean Moulton at 202-234-8494 with questions.

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Vote on Walden Logging Bill Next Week - Call in Day Tuesday!

The Walden Logging Bill is scheduled for a vote on the House floor next week. We expect the vote on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. We are scheduling a national call in day on Tuesday, May 16th.

Please activate your networks. Even if you have called before, please call again on May 16th. Every vote will count. It is critical that Members of Congress hear loud and clear from back home that the Walden Logging Bill is bad for forests, wildlife, clean water, and can also increase fire risk.

Some newspapers have editorialized opposing HR 4200. To view some recent editorials, click here.

The deceptively titled "Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act" (HR 4200), introduced by Representative Greg Walden (R-OR) is a threat to national forests in every state. The Walden Logging Bill promotes aggressive logging and eliminates or undercuts key environmental safeguards for forests, clean water, fish and wildlife and would transform natural landscapes into industrial forests for the logging industry.

The bill attempts to portray natural disturbance events such as fire, rain, insects, snow and ice storms as "catastrophic events" and claims that fast track logging is needed to recover and restore forests after natural disturbance events. But a large body of scientific studies concludes just the opposite: logging in forests after fire and other natural disturbances can be extremely damaging and sets back natural recovery processes.

Participate in the Call in Day on Tuesday, May 16th to Oppose the Walden Logging Bill!

Please call your Representative at 202-224-3121 and ask them to oppose the Walden Logging Bill, HR 4200, "The Forests Emergency Research and Recovery Act."

Talking Points for Calls (fact sheets and additional talking points are below):

My name is _____ and I'm calling to urge Representative ______ to oppose the Walden Logging Bill, HR 4200. I am very concerned about the bill because:

  • By fast-tracking logging in areas following fire or other natural disturbances, the Walden bill puts forests, clean water, fish and wildlife at risk.
  • The last thing a forest needs after a fire or other natural events is the help of bulldozers and chainsaws.
  • Forest management decisions should be based on science; not the demands of special interests. The Walden bill would mandate increased logging under the guise of "restoration", even as more and more scientific research says forests recover better when left alone.

Background and Other Talking Points

  • The Walden Logging Bill undermines protections for forests, fish, water and wildlife in order to rush logging after natural disturbance events, such as wildfires and rainstorms on national forests.
  • The most basic protections are missing: There are no protections in the bill for old growth forests, roadless areas, streams or riparian areas, critical wildlife habitat, fragile soils, or other essential natural resources.
  • The Walden Logging Bill sacrifices accountability and transparency in federal decision making by casting aside the most important law the public has to provide meaningful and informed input on federal projects - the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). All projects authorized under the bill would be exempt from NEPA, which requires that federal projects undergo a "look before they leap" review that takes into account sound science, a reasonable range of alternatives, and lets the public know about a project and its environmental impacts before moving forward.
  • The best available science shows that logging in forests after natural disturbances can be extremely damaging and can actually increase fire risk by leaving piles of limbs and branches on the ground. Letting trees regenerate naturally works better than logging and replanting. Bulldozers destroy naturally regenerating fragile seedlings. Logs left in place following fires or other disturbances are crucial building blocks, providing nutrients for the reemerging forest. In a recent letter, 169 scientists including some of the most prominent forest ecologists in the nation wrote to warn Congress that HR 4200 "...is misguided because it distorts or ignores recent scientific advances."
  • Community protection priorities will be misplaced. The bill creates incentives to divert scarce agency resources away from projects intended to protect communities before wildfires may occur, and toward destructive logging projects that can delay recovery and increase fire danger.
  • Logging after fires loses taxpayer money. According to a new report by scientists, a former Forest Service employee, and conservation groups, the Forest Service most often loses taxpayer money on post fire logging. It is estimated that as of 2006 it cost taxpayers approximately $14 million dollars logging in the Southern Oregon Biscuit fire that burned in 2002.

Fact sheets and Resources

Conservationists oppose H.R. 4200 - click here for a fact sheet on the Walden Logging Bill

For a copy of the American Lands report, After the Fires: Do No Harm in America's Forest, A Report on the Impacts of Logging on Forest Recovery, click here

Click here to see a copy of the letter from 169 scientists opposing the Walden Logging Bill.

For a copy of the Walden Logging Bill click here

For a fact sheet on the Myths and Facts of the Walden/Baird Logging Bill click here

To see if your Representative is a co-sponsor of the Walden Logging Bill, click here Even if your Representative is a co-sponsor, they should know that there is strong local opposition and still urge a NO vote on 4200.

**The mission of American Lands Alliance is to protect and restore America's forest ecosystems by providing national leadership, coordination, and capacity building for the forest conservation movement. We provide national leadership on forest policy issues by combining grassroots experience with a deep understanding of Washington politics.**

For up to date information on national forest issues go to: www.americanlands.org

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