Sierra Club Applauds Roadless Plan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 13, 2000



Contact: Allen Mattison, 202-675-7903



SIERRA CLUB APPLAUDS FOREST SERVICE PLAN TO HALT 

COMMERCIAL LOGGING IN WILD AREAS OF NATIONAL FORESTS



WASHINGTON -- The Sierra Club today welcomed the U.S. Forest

Service's plan to protect unspoiled areas of our National

Forests, hailing it as a significant improvement over the draft

that the agency issued in May.  Based on this proposal, President

Clinton has the opportunity to issue a final plan that will

protect the last pristine areas of our National Forests for

hikers, hunters and wildlife.



"This summer, more than a million Americans called on the Forest

Service to fully protect the remaining unspoiled fragments of our

National Forests, and the Forest Service clearly heard that cry,"

said Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope. "By ending

commercial logging in these wild areas, the Forest Service will

help protect some of the best places where Americans love to

hike, hunt, fish and camp. President Clinton can use today's

proposal to fully protect America's wild National Forests for our

families and for our future."



Today's Forest Service proposal, or Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS), largely closes a loophole opened in their May

preferred alternative, which would have banned roadbuilding but

allowed logging in unspoiled, roadless areas.  The EIS would ban

commercial timber sales in roadless areas, but allows

"stewardship logging."  Unless "stewardship" is very carefully

defined, this term could open a loophole leading to the

destruction seen under the 1995 forest salvage rider.



"The Sierra Club is thrilled that the Forest Service recognizes

that the values of recreation, wildlife habitat and clean water

trump commercial logging in these untouched areas," Pope added. 

"However, forest advocates need to remain vigilant to ensure that

cracking the door ajar for `forest stewardship' doesn't throw the

floodgates open for wholesale clearcutting.  We urge President

Clinton to tighten the loose language to be sure that science

guides the decisions to restore forest habitat and protect

communities from unnaturally intense fires."



The earlier draft plan also fell short of full protection by

delaying any decision on the Tongass National Forest in Alaska

until 2004. Today's EIS offers the same level of protection to

the Tongass as is granted to all other National Forests, although

that protection is delayed for four years.



"By granting the same level of protection to the unspoiled areas

of the Tongass National Forest as to all other wild areas, the

Forest Service is taking an important step to protect the world's

largest intact temperate rainforest," Pope said.  "That

protection should not be delayed, though.  The Sierra Club hopes

President Clinton will side with the overwhelming number of

Americans who want to see the Tongass permanently protected now."

---

For questions about this website, contact Kern-Kaweah Chapter Webmaster, Harold Wood at: harold.wood@sierraclub.org

---

Sierra Club California

Back to Sierra Club chapters.
Back to Sierra Club home page.

---

http://kernkaweah.sierraclub.org/roadless_sc_release_1113000.html