Some of you on this list I don't ever send environmental stuff to.  However,
this issue is so important that I am sending it to many of you and asking you
to please write or call your senators.  The battle to save our national
forests is on-going, but this bill, should it pass, would set back the
program by 10 years and threaten every last available wild place we have.

Thanks for your consideration!
Sheila

     Our Children Need Good Schools AND Healthy National Forests

     Almost a century ago, Congress passed a law requiring the U.S. Forest
     Service to turn over 25 percent of its logging revenues to rural
     counties to fund schools and roads.  In recent years payments to
     counties have declined due to reliance on an unsustainable logging
     program.  Rural schools deserve steady education funding, but funding
     should not be tied to logging our National Forests.

     Senator Wyden (D-OR) has teamed up with Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) to
     introduce a bill known as S. 1608, the "Secure Rural Counties and
     Community Self-Determination Act," that would increase logging
     incentives and give control of National Forest lands to local
     interests.

     **  WE ARE EXPECTING A VOTE AS SOON AS THE SENATE RETURNS FROM RECESS
     ON SEPT. 6.  YOUR HELP IS NEEDED TO DEFEAT THIS BILL.  **

     Oppose S. 1608.  Clearly schoolchildren should not be held hostage by
     an unsustainable logging program.

     - Over 85% of teachers around the nation want guaranteed funding for
     schools that is "not connected to logging in any way."

     - S. 1608 would force counties to spend 15%-20% for "investments in
     resource management and restoration."  Education payments should go
     towards education, not to an unsustainable logging program.  Counties
     should have the choice to keep their full payment for education.

     - S. 1608 keeps the traditional tie between timber receipts and
     payments to counties.  Payments to counties would come from Forest
     Service logging revenues and fees and then from the general Treasury
     if Forest Service funds are insufficient.  Counties would continue to
     have an incentive to advocate for more logging on federal lands.  With
     budget shortfalls Congress would likely take funding from
     environmentally beneficial activities such as wilderness management,
     fish and wildlife habitat restoration and recreation.

     - S. 1608 would create special "local advisory committees" to approve
     "resource management projects."  This would give county officials and
     local interests the ability to allocate millions of dollars of federal
     funds and would increase local control over National Forest
     management.  The National Environmental Policy Act allows for ample
     citizen input into federal management decisions and has worked for
     decades.

     The bill ignores the contributions of National Forests to recreation,
     wildlife, fishing and water quality. Nationally, recreation generates
     nearly $40 to the economy for every dollar generated by logging, and
     creates more than 30 times as many jobs. And increased logging
     destroys recreation opportunities.  Rural communities rely on National
     Forests for clean drinking water and logging can clog streams with
     silt and run-off. Communities should not have to sacrifice clean
     drinking water, jobs and wildlife habitat to fund their children's
     education.

     **  PLEASE CALL YOUR SENATORS THROUGH THE CAPITOL HILL SWITCHBOARD AT
     (202) 224-3121.  URGE THEM TO SUPPORT THE "COUNTY CHOICE" AMENDMENT
     AND TO OPPOSE S.1608!  A VOTE IS EXPECTED BEFORE SEPT. 8. **

     For more information call Sean Cosgrove at (202) 547-1141.

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