GREENLines, Friday, November 27,1998 from GREEN,
the GrassRoots Environmental Effectiveness Network,
A project of Defenders of Wildlife
(505) 255-5966 or E-mail [log in to unmask]
© GREEN/Defenders of Wildlife 1998

ALASKAN EIDER SUIT:  Conservation groups announced they intend to sue
the US Fish and Wildlife Service for refusing to designate critical
habitat for the Spectacled and Steller's eider, reports the 11/21
Southwest Biodiversity Alert.  The Southwest Center for Biological
Diversity, the Alaska Action Center, Common Roots and the Sitka
Conservation Society say the recent attempt to open the National
Petroleum Reserve - Alaska to oil leasing will further imperil the
species, already listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
 Steller's eider has already disappeared from western Alaska, and
Spectacled eider populations have diminished by 98% in the Yukon-
Kuskokwim Delta since the 1970s.

REPORT CONFIRMS TIMBER PROGRAM LOSES MONEY:  A 11/24 AP article
reported a Government Accounting Office audit of the US Forest Service
revealed only 8% of receipts from $1.85 billion in timber sales is
returned to the US Treasury.  The audit says one-fourth of the money
goes to county governments for schools and roads, while the rest is
used to "prepare more trees for harvest."  The money funds accounts
including the salvage rider program and the timber road credit program.

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