Forwarded by Jane Clark

RELIGIOUS LEADERS BRING FOREST PROTECTION MESSAGE TO WASHINGTON

Washington, D.C.
February 3, 1999
Amy Hanson
Phone: 626-793-0754

       Nearly 50 Christian and Jewish religious leaders converged upon
Capitol Hill this week to call for an end to the timber sales program on
national forests, and a halt to logging in ancient forests throughout
Creation.  Their visit culminates today with a meeting at the White
House, in which they will urge the Administration to issue an executive
order to end logging on our federal public lands.  The coalition, known
as the Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation, represents nearly
every Protestant denomination, including Baptist, Presbyterian,
Lutheran, Episcopalian, Methodist, Brethren and Eastern Orthodox;
Catholic leaders; and Jewish leaders.  On Monday, they held a prayer
breakfast with Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, and have since visited
over 100 Congressional offices, and met with Forest Service Chief Mike
Dombeck and staff.

"This is a moral issue.  Logging on our national forests is wrong and
must stop", said Connie Hanson, Founder and Director of Christians
Caring for Creation ("CCC"), a nationwide prayer network based in Los
Angeles, California.  Added Hanson, "The Bible teaches us to protect and
care for God's Creation, not destroy it."

The Religious Campaign urges not only that all commercial logging be
stopped on America's national forests, but also that current logging
subsidies be redirected into worker retraining, ecological restoration
work, and taxpayer savings.  The bipartisan National Forest Protection
and Restoration Act (formerly H.R. 2789), which is led by Rep. Jim Leach
(R-IA) and Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), would do just that, and is
advocated by Christians Caring for Creation and members of the Campaign.

"Logging on our national forests is unjustified environmentally,
economically, and, most importantly, spiritually," said Amy Hanson,
Co-Director of CCC. "When you look around you and truly grasp the scale
of environmental degradation that has occurred, you cannot help but
consider that we are in danger of losing Creation.  We feel a moral
obligation to do something about it," she stated.

Christians Caring for Creation will remain in Washington the rest of the
week, visiting additional Congressional offices and handing out copies
of a calendar produced by CCC entitled "A Celebration of Creation".
Each day of the year in the calendar contains a pro-environment Bible
verse or quote from a famous religious leader.

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