Posted by Jane Clark at [log in to unmask]

Take Action to Protect our National Forests

The Forest Service has instituted a public comment period, until February
19th.  They need to hear from you. Click on the following link to send a
message directly to the Forest Service.  There's a draft provided!

http://whistler.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=53&rf=-53999

The Forest Service recently bowed to pressure from the mining and logging
industries, issuing 2 new directives that significantly
weaken protections for our National Forests. It continues to ignore over 2
million comments in support of protecting our wild forests that were used to
draw up the popular Roadless Area Conservation rule under the Clinton
Administration.

Specifically, the new directives:

1) Eliminate the requirement that there must be a "compelling need" for
road construction in roadless areas,

2) Eliminate the requirement to prepare an environmental impact statement
prior to building roads in roadless areas,

3) Eliminate any special protection for uninventoried roadless areas
greater than 1,000 acres that are adjacent to inventoried roadless areas or
wilderness areas, and

4) Create a new loophole for logging old-growth forests in roadless areas.

The Forest Service should work to protect and restore our National Forests,
not increase destructive commercial logging and road construction.
Currently, there are 440,000 miles of roads in the National Forests. Only
20% of these roads get regular maintenance. Logging roads fragment wildlife
habitat, dump dirt and sediment into streams and create public safety
hazards.

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