Sierra Club Action Alert

Issue:
House members will soon vote on the FY 2005 Interior Appropriations Bill.
Three important conservation amendments will be offered during floor
consideration. Adoption of these amendments is critical to protecting
America's great icons Yellowstone National Park, Alaska's Tongass National
Forest, and preserving for future generations our nation's wildlife.

Action Needed:
Please contact your Congress member by calling the Capitol Switchboard at
202-225-3121, or through the web at www.thomas.loc.gov

Message:
As your constituent and a Sierra Club member, I urge you to adopt three
amendments that will be offered during floor consideration of the Interior
Appropriation Bill. Please vote yes on:

·    Rep. Tom Udall's Forest Wildlife Conservation Amendment.
·    The Tongass Amendment that Reps. Chabot and Andrews will offer.
·    A Yellowstone Amendment that Reps. Rush Holt, Christopher Shays, Nick
Rahall, and Tim Johnson will sponsor.

Background and Talking Points:
Sierra Club members have long supported efforts to conserve, protect and
restore America's public lands and our nation's wildlife. The U.S. House of
Representatives will soon vote on three amendments to the Interior
Appropriation bill. These amendments are a common sense conservation
package that will ensure that some of our most precious wildlands
Yellowstone National Park and the Tongass National Forest  and the wildlife
harbored on the National Forests, will be conserved for future generations.

Forest Wildlife Conservation Amendment
Rep. Tom Udall (NM) will offer the Forest Wildlife Conservation amendment
that is needed to conserve wildlife and ensure sustainable forest
management on the National Forests.  Without wildlife in the forests,
something important will be missing for all Americans.

·    The Bush Administration has issued forest management rules that are a
radical departure from the past. They weaken wildlife protection, undermine
public involvement, ignore science and play favorites with special
interests. Current forest management rules require the Forest Service to
conserve native species of wildlife such as black bears, songbirds and
salmon.  The rule changes proposed by the Bush administration eliminate
this requirement.

·    Over 325 prominent scientists, including E.O. Wilson, asked the
administration to withdraw the proposed regulations.  Senators and
Representatives sent the White House letters asking that the regulations be
withdrawn until they are reviewed by a Committee of Scientists.

·    Support the Udall amendment to help make certain that tax dollars are
not used to implement changes that reduce protection for wildlife,
watersheds and national resources as well as limit public input and
oversight. The Forest Wildlife Conservation Amendment will ensure that the
Forest Service must continue to meet their stewardship responsibilities.

The Yellowstone Amendment
Reps. Rush Holt, Christopher Shays, Nick Rahall, and Tim Johnson amendment
will make sure the timely phase-out of snowmobiles in the Park occurs.

·    The National Park Service and the Environmental Protection Agency say
the phase-out is the strongest protection for public health, wildlife, and
the park's environment In addition, Americans, by a 4-to-1 margin,
overwhelmingly support protecting Yellowstone by replacing snowmobile use
with snowcoaches

·    Americans have six times urged the Park Service to phase out
snowmobile use from Yellowstone and its sister park, Grand Teton. More
specifically, the Sierra Club help provide over 300,000 comments on this
important issue.

·    Support the Yellowstone amendment. The public will continue to enjoy
access to the Park on more efficient and less intrusive snowcoaches that do
not harm the park's resources and natural character. Snowmobile use will
continue on millions of acres of public lands surrounding Yellowstone.

The Tongass Subsidy Amendment
Reps. Steve Chabot and Robert Andrews will offer the "Tongass Subsidy
Amendment" which is necessary to ensure that taxpayers will not subsidize
the construction of new logging roads on the Tongass National Forest.

·    If the President and Congress are serious about cutting government
waste, the subsidy to the timber industry in Alaska is a good place to
start.

·    The Forest Service is propping up Big Timber. In a single year,$35
million tax dollars were lost logging the Tongass.  Since 1982, taxpayers
have spent nearly a billion subsidizing logging America's rainforest.

·    Support for the Tongass amendment is a vote to protect America's
forest. Taxpayers deserve better and so does America's rainforest.

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