home of the wildlife conservation environmental and freedom activist

TO: ACLU Action Network Members
FR: Jared Feuer, Internet Organizer
DT: January 24, 2002

Attorney General John Ashcroft is reportedly considering a plan to relax restrictions on the FBI's ability to spy on domestic organizations, a move that would loosen some of the most fundamental protections against FBI misconduct and threaten constitutionally protected advocacy of unpopular ideas and political dissent.

The domestic spying restrictions were originally imposed in the 1970's after the country learned of the FBI's widespread, unchecked and politically motivated domestic surveillance of such figures as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The FBI's campaign against Dr. King included tactics such as planting bugs in hotel rooms and threats to release the recordings, all done without evidence of criminal activity.

Current domestic guidelines already provide broad authority to conduct investigations, but we must not allow the war on terrorism to permanently expand unchecked government power.

Take Action!  You can read more about this plan and send a FREE FAX to Attorney General John Ashcroft from our action alert at:

http://www.aclu.org/action/spy107.html

**********
Help Strengthen the ACLU's Voice in Congress ...
Click Below to Become a Card-Carrying Member today!
http://www.aclu.org/action/joinaclu.html

To: All Activists
From: Steve Holmer
Date: January 24, 2002

Subject: Key Lawmakers Endorse Udall Letter to Ensure Public
Participation

Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO) is now circulating a congressional sign on letter
calling on Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth to withdraw the September
directive expanding the use of categorical exclusions into inventoried
roadless areas, municipal watersheds and endangered species habitat.  A
number of key lawmakers have endorsed the letter in recent days, but we
hope to see additional endorsements from key committee members before
the letter is sent to Chief Bosworth in early February.

Signers thus far include Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), ranking Democrat on
the House Resources Committee and Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and James
Moran (D- VA) of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee.  Other
signons so far are Reps. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Jim McDermott (D-WA),
Bob Filner (D-CA), Gary Ackerman (D-NY) and James McGovern (D-MA).   
Please thank your Rep. if he/she signed on the Udall letter.

Please support Rep. Udall's initiative to stop this latest rollback by
contacting your Representative at 202/225-3121 and urge him/her to sign
on to the Udall Letter to Ensure Public Participation and Environmental
Protection. Interested Representatives can contact Stan Sloss of Rep.
Udall's office at 202/225-2161 to sign on.

Background
The new directive would reverse current Forest Service policy, which
prohibits the use of CEs when critical forest resources or extraordinary
circumstances are involved. These resources include:

Inventoried roadless areas
Threatened and endangered species or their critical habitat
Flood plains, wetlands, or municipal watersheds
Congressionally designated wilderness areas, wilderness study areas,
or National Recreation Areas.
Steep slopes or highly erosive soils
Research Natural Areas
Native American religious or cultural sites, archaeological sites, or
historic properties or areas

Although the directive would apply only to projects the Forest Service
considers to be small-scale, the cumulative effect of many such projects
is likely to be significant.

For a copy of the Udall letter or additional background information,
please see http://www.americanlands.org/ce_exclusion_alert.htm
Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org

To: All Activists
From: Kelly Sheehan, Dogwood Alliance
Date: January 24, 2002

Help Protect Southern Forests Comments to Forest Service Needed on Draft
Southern Forest Resource Assessment by Jan 31

In response to growing public concern about the impacts of an expanding
paper industry in the South, The US Forest Service initiated a 2-year
study called the Southern Forest Resource Assessment (SFRA).  A draft of
the SFRA was released in November and the USFS is currently taking
public comments until January 31st.

The USFS has concluded that the overharvesting of Southern forests and
the intensive management of pine plantations (including chemical
spraying of herbicides and fertilizers and the use of genetically
modified trees) is "sustainable" and the real threat is sprawl.  Yet the
SFRA documents clearly that Southern forests are under tremendous
pressure from the wood products industry to produce products such as
paper. However, the SFRA fails to adequately address the impacts of
these trends on the ecological sustainability of the South's forests.  
(More detailed "Key Findings" are attached.)

WHAT YOU CAN DO:  Please submit your comments immediately! EMAIL THE
USFS TODAY! US Forest Service John Greis/David Wear
mailto:jgreis@fs.fed.us and mailto:dwear@fs.fed.us AND cc
mailto:scot@dogwoodalliance.org

FIVE POINTS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR COMMENTS:

1- THE IMPACTS OF THE TIMBER INDUSTRY AND INDUSTRIAL FORESTRY PRACTICES
ARE GROSSLY UNDERSTATED
  The SFRA documents that while 30 million acres of forest will be lost
to sprawl through 2040, at least 250 million acres of forests will be
heavily logged by big timber companies to produce products such as
paper.  Removals of the South's hardwood forests will exceed growth by
2025.   In addition, approximately one in every four acres of the
South's "forest" will be a single-species pine plantation by 2040. The
use of chemicals in pine plantations will more than double. Despite
these alarming trends, the primary conclusion drawn in the SFRA is that
sprawl poses the single biggest threat to Southern forests -- a finding
that is grossly misleading. The impacts of big timber companies are
exacerbated, not diminished, by increased urbanization, as remaining
natural forests become even more important to sustaining wildlife
populations, water quality, scenic beauty, recreation, tourism and
value-added, quality wood products businesses.

2- THE ECOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF INTENSIVE PLANTATION MANAGEMENT AND
INCREASED LOGGING ARE NOT ADDRESSED
  The SFRA documents that by 2040 one in every four acres of Southern
forests will be an intensively managed plantation, representing a 63%
increase and covering an area equivalent in size to the states of North
Carolina and South Carolina combined.  The SFRA suggests that more
intensive management of pine plantations that result in greater
production per acre will relieve pressure on natrural forests.  Yet,
there is no detailed analysis of the ecological tradeoffs (long-term
soil productivity, pine beetle infestation, water quality, biodiversity)
involved with increased use of chemicals, genetically modified trees and
such wide-scale monoculture plantation management.  Nor is there any
analysis of the impact of this type of forest management on quality of
life for local communities.

In fact, the SFRA repeatedly includes intensively managed plantations in
it;s discussion of southern "forests".  This has the overall effect of
minimizing the actual loss of southern forests.

Similarly, the report does not adequately address the wide-scale
increase in logging (clearcutting and other forms of even-aged
management) on birds and other key species.  Finally, the SFRA fails to
acknowledge the role that forestry has played in the loss of wetlands
(including wetland
forests) due to logging, ditching, draining and conversion to
plantations across the South and the impacts of these practices on
wetlands.

3- THE CONCLUSION THAT MOST OF THE GAIN IN PINE PLANTATIONS WILL COME
FROM ABANDONED AGRICULTURAL FIELDS IS NOT STRONGLY SUPPORTED
Data in the report document that 75% of the increases in plantations
across the South have come at the expense of natural forests.  However,
the USFS assumes that through 2040 most of the plantations will occur on
abandoned agricultural fields.

4- THE REPORT FAILS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE ECONOMIC TRADEOFFS OF A CONTINUED
EXPANSION IN THE WOOD PRODUCTS INDUSTRY
The SFRA acknowledges that communities where the paper industry is
concentrated are economically worse off than other communities and that
communities where value-added wood products industries are concentrated
are better off than those where the paper industry is concentrated.  The
report also points out that communities where outdoor recreation is
concentrated are much better off economically.  Yet, the conclusion
drawn is that the wood products industry provides stability to the
region's economy, in effect, failing to acknowledge the ecological
tradeoffs involved.

5- THE CONCLUSION THAT SOUTHERN FORESTS ARE "SUSTAINABLE" IS NOT HELPFUL
First, the USFS definition of "sustainability" seems to be focused on a
sustainable wood fiber supply, rather than ecological sustainability (as
set forth above).  Second, a broad statement about the southern region
does little to address key areas under intense pressure from the timber
industry and/or urbanization.  The report alludes to the fact that
trends in certain subregional areas are cause for alarm, but fails to
identify these areas or the trends that affect them in the executive
summary.  The USFS should break their analysis of "sustainability" into
sub-regional areas to provide a better sense of areas of concern.

To view a copy of the full study go to:
http://www.srs.fs.fed.us/sustain/comm1.htm>
For more information:  Call or e-mail Scot at the Dogwood Alliance
(828)251-2525 x18 mailto:scot@dogwoodalliance.org

Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org

Precedence: list
X-Bulkmail: 2.05

January 21 - 25, 2002

Time for this week's Greenpeace Clean Energy Now!
Campaign's good news update - "POSITIVE ENERGY!"


+++PUSH THE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS REDUCTION BILL
OVER THE LINE+++

Two weeks ago we asked you to call your Assembly member
to support Assembly Bill 1058, that would help reverse
global warming by addressing California's largest source
of greenhouse gas emissions--the transportation sector.

AB 1058 is a reasonable measure that instructs the
California Air Resources Board to adopt the maximum feasible
cost effective reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from
passenger cars and trucks in California. And it is
scheduled for a vote sometime next week! Although the cost
to the oil and auto industries would
be minor, both industries are lobbying hard to ensure that
AB 1058 doesn't pass.

And it is scheduled for a vote sometime next week!

Show them you will not except business as usual! There
still aren't enough votes in the California legislature to
pass this bill so we are asking you again to Take Action!

Call your Assembly Member today and tell him or her to vote
YES for AB 1058. To find your Assembly Member online,
visit http://www.assembly.ca.gov and click on
"Find My District."

For more information on AB 1058, go to:
http://www.earthisland.org/bw/

+++THE CALIFORNIA POWER AUTHORITY MADE A PROMISE: HELP
THEM KEEP IT!+++

Well, as you know, the California Power Authority has been
hounded by Greenpeace for the last six months to usher in
a new clean energy economy for the state. To their credit,
they came out with their long-awaited draft plan last week
(at www.capowerauthority.gov) that talks alot about the
potential of wind and solar energy as well as energy
efficiency.

But the plan is not concrete enough and does not commit
serious money (remember they have $5 billion in bonds at
their disposal) to solar manufacturing in the state. We
attended their first public feedback session Wednesday and
were one of only two groups there. The public needs to be
heard so that the Board and staff of the CPA understand
the political sentiment for bigger investments in solar.

The CPA will be holding three more public meetings in
northern California to discuss the Energy Resource
Investment Plan that is due to Governor Davis and the
state legislature by February 15. Please attend if you
can to demand that the CPA become the "renewable energy
bank" financing clean energy projects in California.

For more information on the meetings, go to:
http://www.cleanenergynow.org/stayinformed/events/cpa_meetings.html

+++TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR OF A MOROCCAN SOLAR PROJECT+++

Last year's seventh, top-level meeting of the climate
change treaty was hosted by the Moroccan city of Marrakech
in November 2001. While there, Kirsty Hamilton who was
attending the talks with Greenpeace, had the opportunity
to explore a solar and renewable energy development nearby.
Now you can explore it too by surfing to our "Choose
Positive Energy" website, seeing photos and listening to
audio from Morocco! Just go to:
http://www.choose-positive-energy.org


The "Positive Energy" newsletter and
our website, http://www.cleanenergynow.org, will give
you good news about ways to achieve clean air, climate
justice and renewable energy solutions to our ongoing energy
crisis.  

Want to do more?  Become a Greenpeace Member!
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/join2/cen.htm


If you would like to subscribe or unsubscibe to any Greenpeace e-mail list, you can do so at:
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/sc

EarthNet News
... a project of the Center for Environmental Citizenship
http://www.envirocitizen.org

----------------------------------------------------------------------
January 25, 2002  
----------------------------------------------------------------------

This week in EarthNet read about the latest developments
in the Campaign Finance Reform saga and why you should
care. Plus, find out some encouraging news about how
green American voters are.

--Zachariah Silk, EarthNet Editor  
mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org

**APOLOGY TO OUR INTREPID READERS**
Some of you fell victim to the severe email problems
we were experiencing. Again, we're terribly sorry.
We had no control over the corrupted system that created
the fiasco and discontinued our contract with the list
management service that was responsible. The problem
is fixed. It's back to regularly scheduled programming
from here on out.

And rest assured EarthNet continues to adhere to one
of the strictest list protection policies in the business.
We never rent, sell or share lists with anyone -- not
even other well-meaning nonprofit groups. Your address
is safe with us.

Z. Silk

----------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
----------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Shadow Congress: Clean Politics = Green Politics
2. Quote of the Week
3. Glimmer of Hope: Americans Vote Green
4. Mercy, Mercy Me: There Goes the Sun
5. Jobs, Conferences and Gatherings
6. Activist Phone Book & EarthNet News Info  

----------------------------------------------------------------------
SHADOW CONGRESS  
----------------------------------------------------------------------

CLEAN POLITICS = GREEN POLITICS

With the hullabaloo over Enron's collapse growing,
House backers of campaign finance reform legislation
wrestled up enough signatures this week to force a
vote on the issue. The recent controversy over the
demise of the energy giant -- whose purse strings wrapped
around just about everybody in Washington -- helped
supporters of a Senate-passed campaign finance bill
(the famous McCain-Feingold bill) attract enough lawmakers
to their discharge petition to force the House's very
reluctant Republican leadership to consider the measure.
Under House rules, the leadership now has no choice
but to bring the legislation up before the whole house
for a vote.

This takes us one step closer to cleaner politics and
thus greener policies. You see, the current campaign
finance system makes it possible for the worst polluting
industries in the country to use millions of dollars
in political contributions to buy access and influence.

Think about the fact that the auto and oil industries
gave three times more money to senators who now oppose
stronger fuel efficiency standards than those senators
who support tougher standards. Or consider the Global
Climate Coalition -- the much-maligned industry group
set up to fight political solutions to climate change
-- and their affect on policy. They gave over $60
million over the course of the last decade to members
of Congress, and Frank Murkowski (R-AK) -- the guy
who declared the Kyoto Treaty "fundamentally flawed
and dead on arrival" -- got $248,408 of it. Put simply
-- if you're wondering where screwy environmental policies
come from, follow the money.

By banning soft money -- the huge, unlimited contributions
big dogs give to political parties -- campaign finance
reform legislation will help reduce the influence of
wealthy special interests on public policy. Reform
legislation will help ensure that government decisions
are based on what is good for the environment, not
what is good for large contributors. If we are serious
about clearing the air, protecting public health and
wiping out pollution, we also have to be serious about
cleaning up Congress.

We're one step closer, but nothing is signed into law
yet. Just because the reform champions forced the House
leadership to allow a vote doesn't mean our Representatives
will do the right thing. Tell your Rep that you believe
cleaner politics means a cleaner environment.

TAKE ACTION NOW:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/41zGAZK1jqJT/REFORM
Use the EarthNet Action Center to tell your Rep what
you think.

TELL A FRIEND ABOUT THIS ISSUE:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/4dzGAZK1jqJH/TELL_A_FRIEND

FOR MORE INFO:
**Common Cause:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/4pzGAZK1jqJF/Common_Cause
**US PIRG Report:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/vdzGAZK1jqDa/PIRG_Report
**Los Angeles Times Article:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/fpzGAZK1jqD1/LA_Times
**Washington Post Article:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/51zGAZK1jqDL/WP_Article

----------------------------------------------------------------------
QUOTE OF THE WEEK  
----------------------------------------------------------------------

[We stand] today poised on a pinnacle of wealth and
power, yet we live in a land of vanishing beauty, of
increasing ugliness, of shrinking open space and of
an overall environment that is diminished daily by
pollution and noise and blight. This, in brief, is
the quiet conservation crisis.

-- Stewart L Udall, Former Secretary of the Interior

----------------------------------------------------------------------
GLIMMER OF HOPE
----------------------------------------------------------------------

AMERICANS VOTE GREEN

Americans show a deeper shade of green at the voting
booth than you might think. Last year, voters approved
spending $1.7 billion for public lands and open spaces.
A whopping seventy percent of local ballot measures
in 24 states were given an enthusiastic thumbs up.
This year's 137 successful measures exceeded the number
passed in 1999 -- the last comparable election year
-- and continue an impressive green trend. Since 1998
voters have approved $19 billion in open space funding
and passed 529 greenspace ballot measures. Who says
we can't get green things done at the ballot box?

FOR MORE INFO:
**The Trust for Public Land:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/vpzGAZK1jqDS/Trust_for_Public_Land
**Land Trust Alliance:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/v1zGAZK1jqDq/Land_Trust_Alliance
**San Francisco Chronicle Article:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/v7zGAZK1jqDz/SF_Chronicle

----------------------------------------------------------------------
MERCY, MERCY ME
----------------------------------------------------------------------

THERE GOES THE SUN

From Grist Magazine... http://www.gristmagazine.com

A whole lot of people in the country have energy on
the brain these days. But few are thinking about where
the energy we use got its start. So, you ask, where
does all the energy come from? The sun, of course.
The sun powers basically everything on Earth, from
trees to kids to automobiles. But there's a limited
amount of sun-energy captured by plants on the planet
(a stat called Net Primary Production), and humans
use far more than our fair share of it. At what price,
and how can we change our ways? Elizabeth Sawin writes
in Grist Magazine about the latest research on the
NPP from the journal Science.

ONLY IN GRIST:
There goes the sun -- humans are gobbling up too much
of the sun's energy:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/f7zGAZK1jqJC/Grist_Magazine

TAKE ACTION:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/47zGAZK1jqJG/ENERGY_SECURITY
Use the EarthNet Action Center to ask the Senate for
real energy security.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
JOBS AND INTERNSHIPS  
----------------------------------------------------------------------

These are a sampling of the over 200 environmental
and activist jobs and internships listed at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/index.asp

Job Title: Environmental Law Clerk  
Organization: Land and Water Fund of the Rockies
Location: Boulder, CO
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/f1zGAZK1jqJZ/3886

Job Title: Editorial Interns  
Organization: Living on Earth
Location: Cambridge, MA
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/fdzGAZK1jqJV/3887

Job Title: Volunteer Coordinator/Office Manager
Organization: San Diego Audubon Society
Location: San Diego, CA
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/rpzGAZK1jqJK/3876

----------------------------------------------------------------------
CONFERENCES, GATHERINGS AND VIEWINGS  
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Lots more events listed at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/index.asp

WHAT: College Climate Response
WHERE: Portland, OR
WHEN: 2/8/02 - 2/10/02
FOR MORE INFO:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/rdzGAZK1jqJJ/966

WHAT: National Student Animal Rights Conference
WHERE: Washington, DC
WHEN: 2/15/02 - 2/17/02
FOR MORE INFO:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/r7zGAZK1jqJD/987

WHAT: Public Lands Action Summit
WHERE: Washington, DC
WHEN: 3/1/02 - 3/5/02
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/r1zGAZK1jqJ-/1007

----------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVIST PHONE BOOK  
----------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202.224.3121  
White House Comment Line: 202.456.1111  

White House Address: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington,
DC 20500  
Senate Address: US Senate, Washington, DC 20510  
House Address: US House of Representatives, Washington,
DC 20515  

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Write your own short articles for submission to EarthNet.
We are particularly interested in articles about student
activism on your campus.

For general comments:
mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org

Submit Jobs/Internships/Volunteer listings at:
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/add.asp  

Submit Events at:
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/add.asp

--------------------------------------------------

Visit the web address below and tell your friends about
this week's kickin' EarthNet!

http://actionnetwork.org/join-forward.html?domain=san&r=j7zGAZK1uPDp

If you received this message from a friend, you can
sign up for Student Action Network at:

http://actionnetwork.org/san/join.html?r=j7zGAZK1uPDpE

*****************************
* WILD ALERT
* Friday, January 25, 2002
*****************************

Dear WildAlert Subscriber,

The U.S. Senate has just reconvened, and near the top of its agenda is
an energy policy for America.  The Senate's energy legislation will
dictate how we use energy well into the 21st century.  

Will America remain mired in a fossil-fuel mentality that opens up
pristine wilderness areas like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to
energy development and keeps us dependent on dirty fuels?  Or will our
leaders have the political will to envision a future for us based on
conservation, fuel efficiency and renewable energy?

You can voice your support for the latter by clicking on  
http://www.wilderness.org/arctic/pledge.htm

BACKGROUND
Thank you for repeatedly taking action to protect the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling.  With your help, we have fended off
persistent assaults to keep the Refuge's coastal plain, used by
hundreds of species of wildlife, free of drilling rigs and pipelines.  

The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed an energy bill,
one that includes over $30 *billion* in subsidies to the coal, oil,
natural gas, and nuclear energy industries, and opens the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge to vast industrial oil development.  That
special-interest bill won't get America moving toward true energy
independence.  It's now up to the Senate to provide leadership on this
issue.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Take a moment to urge your Senators to support a different approach to
energy, and to make a promise -- a promise to reduce your fuel
consumption by 8 percent a year.  You'll show your Senators you're
serious about your commitment to America's energy future.  And you'll
join thousands of other Americans who are making America stronger
through energy conservation, and showing our leaders that it can be
done.  

By doing so, you will stand up for a comprehensive energy policy that:
*reduces demand for gasoline with better gas mileage
*promotes cleaner fuels
*steps up the development of hybrid and fuel cell technologies
*promotes public transportation
*supports "smart growth" development patterns that reduce driving, cut
gasoline use, and offer a better quality of life

TAKE ACTION
Take the pledge, and send your Senators a strong message, by going to
http://www.wilderness.org/arctic/pledge.htm  Or send your own letter
directly.  Tell your Senators:

- I am doing my part:  I've pledged to reduce my fuel consumption by
eight percent over the next year.  I firmly believe there are millions
more like me who are willing to make such a commitment.  

- Please do your part. I'm looking to my Senators to help draft a
progressive, forward-looking energy policy that will sustain us
through the 21st century and beyond.  

- Among many things that the energy policy must include are measures
that will:

*reduce demand for gasoline with better gas mileage
*promote cleaner fuels
*step up the development of hybrid and fuel cell technologies
*promote public transportation
*support "smart growth" development patterns that reduce driving, cut
gasoline use, and offer a better quality of life

Send your letters to:
Honorable ___________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Don't know who your Senators are?  Go to:
http://tws.ctsg.com/wac/legDirectory/


***************************************************************
For a full list of Action Items, visit
http://www.wilderness.org/whatcan/takeaction.htm

***************************************************************
An archive of past Wildalerts can be found at
http://www.wilderness.org/wildalert/wildalerts.htm

***************************************************************
To make a gift online to The Wilderness Society, click here
https://secure-net.com/tws/join.asp

***************************************************************
WildAlert is an email action alert system brought to you by The
Wilderness Society to keep you apprised of threats to our wildlands --
in the field and in Washington.  WildAlert messages include updates
along with clear, concise actions you can take to protect America's
last wild places.  You are welcome to forward Wildalerts to all those
interested in saving America's wildlands.

FEEDBACK: If you need to get in contact with the owner of the list,
(if you have trouble unsubscribing, or have questions about the list
itself) send email to <action@tws.org>.

TO SUBSCRIBE: If you have been forwarded this message and would like
to subscribe to the list, visit
http://www.wilderness.org/forms/subscribe.htm or send a message to
wildalert@tws.org with 'SUBSCRIBE' in the subject line and your email
address in the body of the message.

Founded in 1935, The Wilderness Society works to protect America's
wilderness and to develop a nation-wide network of wild lands through
public education, scientific analysis and advocacy.  Our goal is to
ensure that future generations will enjoy the clean air and water,
wildlife, beauty and opportunities for recreation and renewal that
pristine forests, rivers, deserts and mountains provide. To take
action on behalf of wildlands today, visit our website at
http://www.wilderness.org

April Fools' Day Contest

"Using Terminator to Halt GM Seed Contamination is like ?"

Genotype, January 25, 2002

The Gene Giants lost the PR battle over Terminator technology.  But now they
are saying that crop contamination from genetically modified (GM) seeds has
become epidemic in some parts of the world and that the only solution for
those opposed to GM seeds is to use Terminator to halt gene flow.    They
even have some environmentalists and governments calling Terminator a "green
solution".  That?s not true.  But more to the point, accepting the use of GM
Terminator seeds to block GM crop contamination is like?

(Submit your answer on www.etcgroup.org/main.asp before April Fools' Day -
April 1st!)  

* Insisting that (male) farmers wear condoms because GM seeds carry STDs
(sexually transmitted diseases).
* Unleashing lions to catch mice.
* Voting for the Right so the Left won't be corrupted.
* Abolishing book publishing to save forests.
* Giving everyone a gun to stop violent crime.
* Crossing Dodos with Lemmings so the birds can run. (Dodos, now extinct,
could neither fly nor run.)
* Trusting that the corporations who invented Agent Orange, Thalidomide, and
Love Canal, and who created GM contamination ? will be able to control
Terminator technology.
* Using composting toilets in biological warfare labs.
* Making nuclear power plants wheelchair-accessible.
* Biofortifying GM spinach (much-detested) for primary school lunches.
* Using genetic engineering to double the shelf life of Twinkies (one of the
world?s most artificial snacks).
* Designing homicide-tolerant baby seals (killed for pelts in Arctic ice
flows).
* Breeding elephants with "easy-off" tusks.
* Shipping water wings to Pacific islanders (as a defense against rising
sea-levels from Global Warming).
* Manufacturing (personal watercraft) "Jet skis" with Braille instrument
panels.
* Proposing backyard nuclear reactors to lessen fossil fuel dependency.
* Suggesting that the alternative to toxic dump cleanup is human germ line
therapy.
* Proposing that the first clone be yet another George Bush.
* Xenotransplanting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's heart into a
pig.
* Inserting human genes into Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
* Send your finish to the sentence on www.etcgroup.org/main.asp!

The winning answer must be submitted on line before April 1st, 2002.  The
award for the winning answer will be a cartoon depicting the answer that
will include a caricature of the winner(s).  If the winner wishes to remain
anonymous, she/he/they can suggest cameo characters for the cartoon.)  The
cartoon will be posted at www.etcgroup.org and announced and presented
formally to the 6th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on
Biological Diversity in The Hague, Netherlands between April 8-21, 2002.

Terminator Tech is NOT "safe sex" for food security!

*******************************
Care2's alerts newsletter features important steps YOU
can quickly take to help make the world greener. We're
pleased to share with you a special action opportunity
from Care2.
*******************************

I. NEW ALERT: The Arctic Vote is Coming Soon!

You've heard about this issue before, but now more than ever,
it's critical that you help protect wildlife on the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain! The House of Representatives
has let us down by voting to allow drilling -- only our Senators
can protect the Arctic now. This February, pro-drilling Senators
will try to amend energy legislation to allow oil drilling on
"America's Serengeti," so we must convince the majority to
protect this national treasure!

Sign this official petition to prevent drilling:
http://www.care2.com/go/redirect/2/3199

With sustainable solutions right around the corner, we have no
need to re-invest in ancient, dirty fuels, especially when the return
is so low! The pristine area would, at most, supply a few months'
of oil -- enough to pad oil company pockets, but not enough to
provide energy security or to solve our energy problems. Yet,
the price wildlife will pay is monumental.
Sign the petition now: http://www.care2.com/go/redirect/2/3199

The bottom line: oil energy is not safe energy. Recently, one
man shot a hole in the Alaskan pipeline and for three days 6,800
barrels (285,600 gallons) of crude oil spewed out into several
acres of forest, threatening wildlife with toxic contamination.
This one bullet halted nearly 1/5 of U.S. oil production. Similarly,
the Exxon Valdez spill released "only" 260,000 barrels. No
existing "cautionary measures" can make oil drilling in the
Arctic safe for wildlife and native habitat; it only increases
our vulnerability.

Wildlife on the plains could be devastated by spills. For over
10,000 years, caribou have migrated to birthing grounds on
the Arctic plain; Native "Gwich'in" people rely on this 120,000-
member herd for subsistence and hundreds of thousands of
migratory birds stop to rest in the plains during long, tiring
migrations. Polar bears, wolves, foxes, and grizzlies all roam
this spectrum of arctic and subarctic ecoystems in our nation,
the only one protected for future generations.

Just one mistake is all it takes. We must implement safer,
sustainable energy solutions! Don't let our Senators sacrifice
one of the America's crown jewels for a few months' supply of
oil. We can meet our energy needs without destroying our
national treasures!
Please sign this critical petition:
http://www.care2.com/go/redirect/2/3199

Thank you for caring to make a difference, and if you want to
help even more, forward this email to friends! We have only a
few weeks!

II. ACTIVIST TIPS:
** "Wet clean" instead of "dry clean" your clothes to help keep
toxic chemicals out of the environment. Wet cleaning is a
professional process that uses water instead of chemicals to
clean "dry clean only" clothing.

** Eat a little less meat. Every time you eat lower on the food
chain, you conserve resources. For each hamburger you *don't*
eat, you save as much water as taking 40 showers with a
low-flow nozzle.

III.INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE:
"From Nature's chain whatever link you strike,
Tenth or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike."
-- Alexander Pope

To: All Activists
From: Steve Holmer
Date: January 25, 2002

Forest Reports and Resources


Invasive Species Website

Please see American Lands' website at
http://www.americanlands.org/forestweb/invasive.htm for facts and
additional resources related to the threat of invasive species.


Risky Business: Invasive Species Management on National Forests  

A review and summary of needed changes in current plans, policies and
programs that reveals the Forest Service is failing to control the
spread of invasives on public lands despite huge financial costs and is
biased toward the use of herbicides, placing public lands at risk for
increased damage from toxic chemicals.   In the Northwest from 1998-
1999 an additional 28,000 acres of National Forest lands were infested
with noxious weeds, the Forest Service use of herbicides increase 50%
over the same period while non-toxic methods decreased by 140%.  For a
copy of this report by the Kettle Range Conservation Group please see
http://www.kettlerange.org/weeds/


American Lands' Guidebook for Addressing HCPs

A revised and streamlined version of American Lands' guidebook is now
available to forest and wildlife advocates upon request.  HCPs are being
used as a principle means of implementing the ESA on industrial timber
lands.  Our guidebook is intended to help the public understand the HCP
process and ensure that where HCPs are used, they benefit, rather than
harm, endangered species and ecosystems.  Please contact Daniel Hall,
American Lands Forest Biodiversity Program at
mailto:wafcfbp@americanlands.org or call 503/978-0511


Organize to Win: A Grassroots Activist's Handbook  

(A guide to help people organize community campaigns)  How to plan,
organize and manage, community based grassroots environmental campaigns.
Hundreds of practical, low or no cost suggestions & do's and don'ts
drawn from successful campaigns, and input from several experienced
organizers.   http://britell.com/text/tgrassroots.html  
jbritell@harborside.com  Jim Britell, P.O. Box 1349 Port Orford, OR
97465 (541) 332-9775


E-mail Gets Cold Shoulder in Congress

This is the title of a lengthy Dec. 13 article by Rebecca Raney in the
New York Timeswhich details how Capitol Hill deals with the flood of
email received each day.  In general, the article concluded that email
is an increasingly ineffective way for constituents to make their voice
heard.  This is due in part of the overwhelming numbers of emails that
come in, and also a perception on the Hill, that an email, is not as
sincere as a letter, fax or phone call.

Congress received about 80 million email messages last year according to
the Congress Online Project.  Staff members indicated they are deterred
from reading email because they receive as many as 5,000 emails a week.  
Because of the huge volume of email received, nearly one-third of the
100 Senate offices no longer accept email through public addresses,
whereas 83 had public addresses in 1996.  Twelve of the 65 offices that
do accept email sent responses to a test email that they no longer
respond to email sent to those addresses.  Only about a quarter of the
House offices list email addresses on their web sites, compared to about
a third in 1996.  In a test mailing to 65 Senate offices, only seven
replied within two weeks time to acknowledge the message.

The article indicates that letters, faxes and phone calls remain the
best way to get the attention of your elected officials.  Unfortunately,
due to the anthrax problem, most congressional offices are still not
seeing a regular flow of mail, so for now, calling and faxing are the
best way to get through.  Most offices list their fax number on their
websites which can be accessed from http://www.senate.gov and
http://www.house.gov respectively.


MINEWIRE: Essential Reading for Mining Activists

Mineral Policy Center's electronic newsletter is good reading for
activists working to stop mining threats.  For more information please
send a message to jzippin@mineralpolicy.org.  In the latest issue we
learn that Sec. Norton's surface mining regulations became effective on
December 31, 2001.  In November Mineral Policy Center challenged the
Norton rules in D.C. Federal District Court.

Mineral Policy Center's legal theory is that the Norton rules violate
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act's requirement that the
Interior Secretary prevent unnecessary or undue degradation of public
lands.  The previous stronger mining rule defined unnecessary or undue
degradation as "substantial irreparable harm to significant scientific,
cultural, or environmental resource values of the public lands that
cannot be effectively mitigated."  Norton removed the "substantial
irreparable harm" definition.  It also removed almost all environmental
performance standards.  The lawsuit argues the substantial irreparable
harm definition is necessary to protect public lands as required by
Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA).

MPC had requested a preliminary injunction to prevent the Norton rule
from becoming effective, but it was denied.  The same judge denied the
mining industry's request to prevent the strong 2000 mining rule from
going into effect.  The judge did order the case to be put on a fast
track, which may help prevent some of the damage from new mines going in
under the weak rules.   

NRDC Releases Book on Solving Sprawl

December 2001, the Natural Resources Defense Council published a book
detailing the myriad of success that citizens across America have had in
keeping sprawl at bay and the ways they did it.  Live in the city or the
suburbs?  Well, most Americans do, and this book takes a look at the
ways that communities have improved their quality of life and protected
the wild places within their towns and cities.  The book takes you to
towns and cities as varied as Boston, Massachusetts and Langley,
Washington to see how regular people in combination with some basic
tools kept sprawl at bay.

Solving Sprawl: Models of Smart Growth from Communities Across America
is available for $20 at http://www.islandpress.com.  For more
information on different communities approached to solving sprawl, check
out http://www.nrdc.org/cities/smartGrowth/default.


Vote-Smart: Hot Resource for Information on Elected Officials and
Candidates for Office

There are a lot of websites with political information on them, but this
one seems to have the information that's relevant and they're tracking a
mere 36,176 candidates so yours should be there.  This is a sample of
what's available at http://www.vote-smart.org.  Under the basic
categories of information you have biographies, campaign finances, issue
position papers, special interest groups, and voting records.  The site
is particularly relevant because it covers all these offices: President,
Congress, Governors, State Offices, Local Offices, and City candidates.  
They also have issue briefs, issue sources and groups, state
information, ballot measures, and you can register to vote on their
site- check it out!

Turning the Page: Environmental Impacts of the Magazine Industry

The magazine industry is a significant contributor to deforestation,
dioxin contamination, air pollution and water pollution, concludes the
PAPER Project in their new report Turning the Page.  Environmental
damage caused by this industry will escalate unless publishers increase
their use of recycled-content and tree free paper.  US magazine
production uses more than 2.2 million tons of paper per year, almost
exclusively on papers made from virgin wood fiber resulting in more than
35 million trees being cut down each year.  Less than 5% of magazine
paper has any recycled content and most that do use only 10- 30%
recycled fiber.

The Paper Project is working to have industry introduce or increase the
use of post consumer waste paper.  A number of magazines, Outside,
Discover and Sierra are successfully using recycled paper and several
others including National Geographic have agreed to stop using
old-growth fiber in their papers.  For more information, please contact
the PAPER Project, 202/872-5307 or see http://www.ecopaperaction.org.

Co-op America's Woodwise Consumer Guide

See the Wood Wise guide for a list of resources for alternative fiber
products at http://www.coopamerica.org/woodwise/index.html
Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org

To:   All Activists
From: Steve Holmer & Jason Tockman
Date: January 28, 2002

Subject:  Report Release: IMF Policies Lead to Global Deforestation

Tomorrow morning American Lands will be holding a press brieding in
Washington DC to release a new report "IMF:Funding Deforestation."  
Enclosed is our press release.  We are asking activists to forward this
press release tomorrow to any reporters in your area that cover
IMF/trade/globalization/forest issues.  

This is an important opportunity for forest activists to spread the word
that in addition to promoting lending policies harmful to the world's
poorest people, the IMF is also bad news for the world's forests.  
Thanks for all your efforts.

--------------------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2002

Contact: Jason Tockman, American Lands Alliance  740-594-5441
Steve Holmer, American Lands Alliance  202-547-9105

Report: IMF Policies Lead to Global Deforestation

Analysis of financial institution's loan programs exposes forest loss

REPORT AVAILABLE ONLINE AT:  http://americanlands.org/imf_report.htm

Washington, DC-American Lands Alliance today released a report detailing
the dramatic impact that the loans and policies of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) are having on forests around the world. The analysis
found IMF complicity with deforestation in 15 countries of Africa, Latin
America and Asia, including Brazil, Indonesia, Russia, Cameroon and
Chile.

"The IMF's formula of promoting export-led growth and foreign
investment, while simultaneously pressuring countries to slash funding
for environmental programs, has been a recipe for accelerated
deforestation in more than a dozen countries," said Jason Tockman,
director of American Lands Alliance's International Trade Program and
author of the report.

Under "structural adjustment programs" or SAPs, the IMF demands that
client countries undertake a series of policy changes as a precondition
for agency loans sought by countries seeking to avoid defaulting on debt
payments to international lenders. Through these SAPs, the IMF has
effectively realigned global economic relationships into an integrated,
investor-friendly system. As detailed in IMF: Funding Deforestation, the
forests of many countries have been devastated by these policies.

Excerpts from IMF: Funding Deforestation:

· "The record shows that funding for environmental programs has been
hampered by the significant cuts in government spending imposed by the
IMF."

· "Displacement of communities, devaluation of certain currencies,
elimination of social services, and other IMF-driven downward pressures
on the living standards of the poor have caused increased incursion into
forests for the extraction of resources for survival, including wood for
fuel and homes."

· "The IMF prioritizes economic liberalization measures over key social
and environmental objectives."

The report recommends a series of steps to reverse the IMF's negative
impact on world forest resources, including the abandonment of the
policies that are linked to deforestation, adoption of environmentally
sensitive guiding principles, and assessments of the environmental
impacts of loan programs. Greater transparency, debt cancellation for
poor countries, attention to the issues of illegal logging and poaching,
and elimination of government subsidies linked to forest loss are also
called for in the report.

Countries analyzed in IMF: Funding Deforestation: Brazil, Cameroon,
Central African Republic, Chile, Ecuador, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras,
Indonesia, Ivory Coast/Cote d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Nicaragua,
Papua New Guinea, Russia, Tanzania

###

Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org

Leaders in Puerto Rico will vote this week on plans
to develop build two massive tourist resorts on some
of that Caribbean island's last remaining wild coastal
areas. Take action! Contact the Puerto Rican officials
and tell them to protect this resource as a nature
reserve.

You can take action on this alert either via email
(please see directions below) or via the web at:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/caribbean/wk8bxn4178xwk6

Visit the web address below to spread the word about
Action Network's efforts in the Caribbean!
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/caribbean/forward/wk8bxn4178xwk6

We encourage you to take action by July 27, 2002

Protect Puerto Rico's Northeastern Ecological Corridor

----------------------

***************************  
Action Network from Environmental Defense.  
Finding the ways that work.  
***************************

One of Puerto Rico's last remaining wild areas, known
as the Northeastern Ecological Corridor (NEC), is 3,200
acres of coastal fringe located between the municipalities
of Luquillo and Fajardo. It is home to over 40 endangered,
threatened, and endemic species, and remains one of
Puerto Rico's last unprotected areas. Although Commonwealth
authorities proposed to make the NEC a nature reserve
in 1992, the region was rezoned for tourist-residential
development in 1996.

The NEC contains an extraordinary array of tropical
wildlife, a rarity on this overdeveloped Caribbean
island, including critical marine mammals, birds, snakes,
sea turtles and plant species. Puerto Rico's only remaining
coastal wetlands and mangroves are found in this region.
The NEC is also an important recreational resource
for Puerto Ricans, as La Selva is a world class surfing
beach.

Presently, the NEC is threatened by the development
of two massive resorts that would create more than
3,000 tourist-residential units and three golf courses.
The construction of the San Miguel-Four Seasons Resort
and the Dos Mares-J.W. Marriott Resort would destroy
wetlands, important watersheds, and the natural integrity
of the NEC.  

Take Action:
Public hearings about the future of the NEC will be
held on January 30. Take action now and urge the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico's Environmental Quality Board not to
approve the Preliminary Environmental Impact Statement
for the San Miguel-Four Seasons Resort and the Dos
Mares-J.W. Marriott Resort. Ask the Commonwealth to
support the designation of the NEC as a nature reserve,
as was proposed originally by the government of Puerto
Rico.

To view maps photos of the Northeast Ecological Corridor,
please visit:
http://www.surfrider.org/puertorico/neec

----------------------

INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB:
If you have access to a web browser, you can take action
on this alert by going to the following URL:

http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/caribbean/wk8bxn4178xwk6  

INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA EMAIL:
Just choose the "reply to sender" option on your email
program, and edit the letter below as you wish. Do
not delete "-YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW-" and "-END
OF LETTER-". Please do not add your name and address
to your letter. Our system automatically does this
for you.  

We STRONGLY encourage you to make edits directly to
our sample letter below, and put the alert talking
points into your own words. An individualized letter
is worth ten computer generated letters. Of course,
hundreds of unedited letters will still create a large
impact, so please reply even if you don't have time
to personalize the letter.

Your letter will be addressed and sent to:
President,  Puerto Rican Planning Board Dr. Hermenegildo  Ortiz
President,Puerto Rican Environmental Quality Board Esteban  Mujica Cotto, Esq.
Iniciativa para un  Desarrollo Sustentable
Governor, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico The Honourable Sila Maria Calderon


-------YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW---------

I respectfully urge the Puerto Rican Environmental
Quality Board not to approve the San Miguel-Four Seasons
Resort and the Dos Mares-J.W. Marriott Resort Preliminary
Environmental Impact Statements (JCA-01-0330 (CT) and
JCA-99-0015, respectively). These projects will have
significant and negative environmental impacts on the
northeastern region of Puerto Rico. I also urge the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to support the designation
of the NEC as a nature reserve, as was proposed previously
by the government of Puerto Rico.

-------END OF LETTER-------------------------

In this Post :
1. Feb Week of Action Call
2. ECUADOR Emergency Update Police Move to Evict Protest Camp

*** Great RESOURCE :  Our friends at the National Training and Information
Center have released an excellent report on Citifinancial's Predatory
Lending Practices in the Chicago area called  "Slash & Burn Financing: A
Study of CitiFinancial's Recent Predatory Lending".   Check it out at :
www.ntic-us.org/currentevents/press/slashandburn.htm

* * * * * *
#1

CITIGROUP : THE WORLD'S MOST DESTRUCTIVE BANK
Global warming *** Predatory Lending *** Corporate Globalization *** Forest
Destruction *** Attacking Indigenous Rights *** Global Destruction ***

STOP CITIGROUP!

CALL TO ACTION FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 19 - 23rd

HELLO CITI-STOPPERS: it's time to organize this year's Citigroup campaign
kick-off.  The week of FEBRUARY 19, 2002 people around the country will be
telling Citi, it's time to change their ways.  After 60 actions in November,
Citi knows that the public will not tolerate their destructive investments
in fossil fuel projects, which are causing global warming.  If Citi's
turning up the heat on the planet, then let's turn up the heat on Citi!

Global warming is threatening life on our planet.  Mass species extinction,
submersion of countries due to rising sea levels, and the spread of diseases
are the after effects of our deadly fossil fuel addiction. As the largest
financial institution in the world and the #1 financier of fossil fuel
projects, Citi acts as judge, jury, and executioner in determining what gets
funding and what does not. Citi is the largest funder of the fossil fuel
industry which is destroying the planet by causing global warming. Citi must
stop profiting from this deadly industry and begin financing clean forms of
energy, such as solar.  If Citi started financing solar it would be the
cheapest form of energy, today!  Citi could make money and stop the effects
of global warming, but has decided to continue financing the fossil fuel
chain of destruction.

One example of Citi's destructive practices is the Camisea project.  This
gas pipeline that cuts through the Lower Urumbamba region of the Peruvian
Amazon threatens pristine ecosystems and virtually uncontacted indigenous
cultures.  This region is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the
world.  800 species of birds and trees will be endangered by the
construction.  The very survival of two indigenous tribes who live in
voluntary isolation is
jeopardized by the Camisea project. The project has already proven deadly
for the Nahua tribe.  During preliminary exploration in the Camisea region,
the Nahua were exposed to whooping cough and influenza epidemics that killed
off an estimated 50 percent of the tribe's population.

Citi has made a value judgment in backing the Camisea gas project.  It
weighed the value of these indigenous people and productive intact
ecosystems against the short-term profit of fossil fuel addiction, and Citi
reached a verdict.  Illegal road construction has already begun into the
heart of the Amazon, paving the way for further profits at the expense of
innocent lives.

Camisea is but one destructive project brought to you by Citigroup. From
redlining and predatory lending, indebting people of color in our inner
cities to Citi's participation in the OCP pipeline in Ecuador where
activists have put their bodies on the line to save their treasured forests.
As well as Citigroup's partnership with Enron in the contested Dabhol power
plant in India.  Citigroup lives up to its reputation as the World's Most
Destructive Bank. Now is time to let Citi know loud and proud that we know
they are using our savings accounts, our financial aid payments, and our
credit card balances to finance this destruction. Go out and tell them, "Not
with My Money!"

Grassroots pressure is essential to stopping Citi, the survival of
indigenous peoples and ecosystems is hanging in the balance. Activists
around
the country and around the globe will go to their local Citibanks and
perform a mock trial where Citi is the judge, jury and executioner. The only
thing that can stop Citi? The public. So make a giant scale, and watch Citi
try to tip the scale of justice.   How can you  prevent Citi from tipping
the scales of justice in their favor.  How do you do that? Close your
Citibank accounts.  Cut up your Citibank credit cards and save a Citi
customer! Talk to folks, let them know that their money is being used to
fund the world's most destructive bank. Other actions like call ins,
leafleting, making mock deposits of oily water or a bag of sawdust sends a
message that can bring Citi's underhanded verdict to the light and have them
reconsider the judgement.  Citi must rule in favor of human rights and
environmental justice instead of shortsighted corporate greed.  Organize an
action on February 19th or any day that week. It's a week of actions to stop
Citi's selling of the planet.  LET'S STOP CITI FROM FINANCING FOSSIL FUELS
AND TELL THEM TO FINANCE CLEAN ENERGY! TELL CITI FUNDING OF DESTRUCTION
MUST STOP!  "NOT WITH MY MONEY, CITI"

For more info contact Matt Prescott with SEAC in Philadelphia at
IMPULSE275@aol.com <mailto:IMPULSE275@aol.com> 215-222-4711

Emma Kelty, at Grinnell College, Des Moines, <mailto:ftp@grinnell.edu>.

Mark Von Topel with Powershift in DC at mark.vontopel@shiftpower.org
<mailto:mark.vontopel@shiftpower.org> (202) 299-9096,

Patrick Reinsborough at Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco at
mailto:organize@ran.org  415-398-4404

For more info on the Citi campaign go to http://www.ran.org or
www.shiftpower.org

* * * * *

#2 ECUADOR : POLICE MOVE TO EVICT PROTESTERS BLOCKING OCP PIPELINE
CONSTRUCTION
INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION NEEDED!

(check www.ran.org and www.amazonwatch.org for pictures and updates)

Quito, 28 January/2002

Friends,

This afternoon we have received information that the Police have planned an
eviction of the protest camp which is installed in the bosque protector
Mindo-Nambillo to block entry of the OCP  pipeline.

A team of the National Police is going to the zone, to carry out the
eviction in the next few hours...

Unfortunately we cannot give more details, we are gathering everyone
together to go to the area, (Monte de Guarumos, between Nono and Tandayapa)
to look out for the security of the activists who are putting their bodies
where there beliefs are, to protect the life of all the people of the
planet.

Please send an email or fax urgently to the Ministry of the Government of
the Republic of Ecuador, Marcelo Merlo.  Spanish is best but any language
will do.
Let the government of Ecuador know that the tree sit and encampment at Mindo
as international support!

EMAIL :Dr. Marcelo Merlo Jaramillo
Ministro de Gobierno y Policia
despacho@mingovierno.gov.ec
FAX: 593 2 2 583 356

Also cc the Subsecretaria de Policia:
subpol@mingobierno.gov.ed


Let him know that we are watching this eviction, and the police conduct and
treatment of activists, from around the world.

****************************
* WILD ALERT
* Tuesday, January 29, 2002
****************************

Dear WildAlert Subscriber,

As President Bush prepares to make his State of the Union address
tonight, The Wilderness Society has taken a close look at the state of
the environment. We've found that, on issue after issue, the president
and his appointees have failed to safeguard our air, water, land, and
wildlife,  siding instead with those interests eager to make a quick
profit.

We've concluded that informed and aroused activists like you, along
with a vigilant Congress, are essential to blunt the administration's
anti-environment actions.

You can download the full report from
http://www.wilderness.org/newsroom/rls012402.htm

UNDER THE RADAR
While our country wisely focuses on countering terrorism, the Bush
administration continues to move at full speed to implement its
anti-environmental agenda -- mostly under the radar.

Since September 11, Interior Secretary Gale Norton and others have
invoked "national security" to justify massive oil development not
only in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but also on fragile
western public lands across the lower 48 states.

But homeland security includes wildland protection. The clean air and
water, biological diversity, and inspiration that our national parks,
wilderness, and other natural reserves provide are of vital
importance. ***The truly patriotic course of action is not to plunder
the most stunning lands we have inherited, but to protect them. Each
generation serves as trustee of these natural treasures, and this
administration is breaching that trust.***

IGNORING ENERGY STRATEGIES THAT WOULD HELP AMERICA
The White House is championing an energy plan that is a half-century
out of date and appears to draw more on the advice of Enron and other
fossil-fuel industry executives than on anyone else's. Under this
blueprint, our environment would be sacrificed in a host of ways.

IGNORING SCIENCE
The new administration has ignored or misstated findings of the
scientific community. Scientists extol the value of roadless forests,
but the Bush administration is trying to undermine the policy that
would protect 58.5 million acres of roadless national forest lands.

Interior Secretary Norton gave inaccurate testimony to Congress on
Arctic caribou calving facts, claiming later that it was a typo. She
told the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that she supported its wetlands
proposals -- but failed to pass along criticism from biologists at the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

IGNORING THE PUBLIC
The administration also ignores the public's views -- despite pledges
to the contrary from Secretary Norton and others. Citizen comments
overwhelmingly supported a snowmobile phase-out at Yellowstone
National Park and protection of national forest roadless areas, but
the Bush administration is trying to roll back these initiatives.

In California, despite broad-based opposition, the administration is
championing offshore oil drilling on 36 sites. Eager to give forest
product companies the green light to log 41,000 acres in Bitterroot
National Forest, the administration tried to use an end run to avoid
the law that requires public comment. The only voices that this
administration wants to listen to are those pushing for exploitation
of our natural resources.

APPOINTEES
Many, many appointees to key positions in the Administration are
former lobbyists or employees of powerful timber, oil and gas, coal
mining, and energy companies. They include: Mark Rey, Steven Griles,
James Connaughton, James Cason, William Myers, Paul Hoffman, Drue
Pierce, Rebecca Watson, Bennet Raley, and Camden Toohey. Read their
bios on-line at http://www.wilderness.org/newsroom/rls012402.htm

OK, A FEW POSITIVE STEPS, BUT...
On occasion, this administration has acted to protect the environment.  
But most of what the Bush Administration takes credit for amounts to
allowing existing rules and decisions to stand, like deciding to keep
arsenic standards for drinking water (and only after a public uproar).

WHAT YOU CAN DO
The items above are just the big ones. A laundry list of other issues
is covered in our report at
http://www.wilderness.org/newsroom/rls012402.htm

Arm yourself with the facts by downloading our report. Feel free to
share the report with friends and family by using our quick "Tell a
Friend" online form: http://www.wilderness.org/tellafriend.asp (NOTE:
The Wilderness Society does not sell or exchange your friends' email
addresses.)


***************************************************************
For a full list of Action Items, visit
http://www.wilderness.org/whatcan/takeaction.htm

***************************************************************
An archive of past Wildalerts can be found at
http://www.wilderness.org/wildalert/wildalerts.htm

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pristine forests, rivers, deserts and mountains provide. To take
action on behalf of wildlands today, visit our website at
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To: All Activists
From: Steve Holmer
Date: January 29, 2002

Showdown in Congress: Forest Protection Lobby Week June 2 - 7

Facing the demise the roadless protection policy and numerous other
rollbacks of forest protection, we need help from Congress to stop the
Bush Administration and the Forest Service from succeeding with these
attacks.  You can make a huge difference by becoming a regular with your
Representative and Senator back home and by coming to Washington once a
year.

All activists are invited to join activists from across the nation for our
annual Forest Protection Lobby Week June 2 -7 which will happen right
before the House of Representatives votes on the Interior Appropriations
bill.   

This year, much is at stake.  The Forest Service is moving rapidly to
dismantle the roadless conservation rule while it is tied up in court.  
Without action by Congress, these areas will remain at risk.  This will
be an all-out lobby blitz to protect roadless areas and stop Forest
Service rollbacks.

Fire and restoration funding and policy have dominated the Interior bill
the last several years and we expect a major fight once again to reign
in the abuse of restoration and hazardous fuel treatment funds being
diverted for commercial logging.   

Lack of enforcement of off-road vehicles and the agencies failure to
monitor their impacts is allowing for unacceptable damage to the public
lands.  This year, we will ask Congress to start tackling this problem.  


If you, or someone you work with is interested in coming to Washington
this June, or at any time of the year to lobby for your forest
protection priorities, please contact Steve Holmer at 202/547-9105, or
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org    When necessary, American Lands offers
travel assistance (usually ½ airfare) and can often find free host
housing with our staff or local supporters.  

-
Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org

========================================
NRDC's EARTH ACTION:
The Bulletin for Environmental Activists

January 30, 2002
========================================
In This Issue:

--Action alerts--

1. AIR POLLUTION: Speak out to stop the Bush administration from
gutting the Clean Air Act

2. ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION: Urge your senators to strengthen
environmental provisions in this year's farm bill

======================================================
You will also find these alerts in NRDC'S Earth Action Center, which
includes tools for taking action easily online, at
http://www.nrdc.org/action

(Please do not reply to this message; see the instructions below for
how to unsubscribe or contact NRDC with questions or comments.)

=============
Action alerts
=============

1. AIR POLLUTION
Speak out to stop the Bush administration from gutting the Clean Air
Act

In our last alert we asked you to call the White House and urge the
Bush administration not to weaken the Clean Air Act. The White House
reportedly received thousands of calls (thank you!), but the
administration is nevertheless about to launch the largest assault on
the Clean Air Act in over thirty years. In response to pressure from
the nation's worst polluters -- which, not coincidentally, are its
largest campaign contributors -- the administration is poised to carve
gaping loopholes into a key part of the Clean Air Act that would
result in thousands of premature deaths, tens of thousands of new
cases of serious illness and birth defects, and the loss of scenic
vistas, pristine lakes, and healthy forests.

The "New Source Review" program under the Clean Air Act requires
approximately 17,000 of the nation's oldest and dirtiest power plants,
oil refineries, and other industrial facilities to install up-to-date
pollution control devices whenever they significantly increase their
air pollution. The rules are responsible for eliminating and
preventing the release of millions of tons of harmful pollutants into
the air that we breathe.

For years, though, big polluters have been lobbying to weaken the NSR
rules with new loopholes and rule relaxations, to relieve themselves
of the responsibility to clean up their own pollution. These
exemptions would not only violate the Clean Air Act, they would also
allow the nation's dirtiest plants to indefinitely spew pollution at
levels that have not been considered acceptable in decades. In fact,
many plants would actually be able to *increase* pollution
dramatically under the loopholes without cleaning up.

== What to do ==
Send a message to EPA administrator Christie Whitman urging her agency
not to weaken the New Source Review rules of the Clean Air Act.

== Contact information ==
You can send a message to EPA administrator Whitman directly from
NRDC's Earth Action Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action. Or use the
contact information and sample letter below to send your own message,
and feel free to add your own reasons why you don't want more
pollution in the air you breathe.

Administrator Christie Whitman
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Fax:  202-501-1450
Email:  whitman.christine@epamail.epa.gov

== Sample letter ==

Subject:  Don't weaken New Source Review rules

Dear Administrator Whitman,

I am deeply concerned that the Bush administration is on the verge of
weakening the Clean Air Act's New Source Review program. The
regulations comprising that program protect the health of my family
and their natural environment. Because the NSR rules cannot be changed
without your approval, I am asking you to withhold your signature from
any new rule or proposal that would weaken the air quality protections
and pollution clean-up measures required by NSR.

The NSR program requires that the nation's approximately 17,000 power
plants, oil refineries and other major industrial facilities install
up-to-date pollution control devices whenever plant modifications
significantly increase  air pollution. In the years since it was
enacted, NSR has been responsible for eliminating and preventing the
release of millions of tons of harmful pollutants into the air. The
NSR program protects local, regional and national air quality, public
health, and national parks and other beautiful places. If the Bush
administration caves in to industry pressure, the result may be harm
to the health of my family and community, in addition to hazy vistas,
dead lakes, and poisoned forests where we seek natural beauty and
recreation.

More than 140 million Americans already live in areas with unhealthy
air. EPA should be committed to improving air quality and
strengthening protections, not rolling back those already in place.
State and local air regulators across the country have already taken a
stand against the NSR rollbacks. Please stand with them for
protections for public health and the environment, not the big
polluters, and refuse to sign any measure or support any effort that
would weaken the New Source Review program.

Sincerely,

[Your name and address]

2. ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION
Urge your senators to strengthen environmental provisions in this
year's farm bill

In late November 2001, we asked you to contact your senators about
environmentally harmful provisions in the farm bill (S. 1731).
Although deep disagreements in certain areas prevented the bill from
coming to a floor vote in 2001, party leaders have announced they
intend to work together to try again, and the bill is scheduled to be
on the Senate floor within the next week.

While the current version of the bill contains increased funding for
farm conservation and clean energy programs and strengthens
environmental protections for farm and rural properties, the bill
still contains several troubling provisions. The bill would make new
funds available for factory farms to subsidize the construction of
massive animal waste lagoons that are prone to break, spill, and leak,
contaminating water bodies and drinking water supplies. The bill also
includes incentives for destructive logging in our national forests.

== What to do ==
Contact your senators and urge them to support measures to bring a
more environmentally friendly farm bill to the Senate floor.

== Contact information ==
You can email or fax your senators directly from NRDC's Earth Action
Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action. If you prefer to call your
senators, the Capitol switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

==================================================
About Our Bulletins/How to Subscribe & Unsubscribe
==================================================

NRDC distributes three bulletins by email. To subscribe to any or all
of them or to join our activist networks, go to:
http://www.join.nrdcaction.org/subscribe.asp.

EARTH ACTION is sent biweekly and calls out urgent environmental
issues requiring immediate action. To unsubscribe from Earth Action,
send an email message to earthaction@nrdcaction.org with REMOVE in the
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legwatch@nrdcaction.org with REMOVE in the subject line.

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==========
About NRDC
==========

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental
organization with over 500,000 members nationwide and a staff of
scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to
protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and
healthy environment for all living things.

For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC,
please contact us at:

Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
General email: nrdcinfo@nrdc.org
Earth Action email: nrdcaction@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org

Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org

===========

America's wildest remaining national forestlands are under attack
again.  The 58 million acres of roadless and unspoiled forestlands in
the United States are tremendously important.  Among other things,
they are sanctuaries for large mammals such as bears, wolverines, and
lynx, and they protect freshwater supplies for local communities.

Under the Clinton administration, the U.S. Forest Service adopted a
strong roadless area protection plan in January 2001.  Unfortunately,
the current administration has been at odds with the policy for the
past year.  Recently, the Forest Service issued directives that would
completely undermine the roadless rule; they are accepting comments
on the new directives until February 19.

BEFORE THE FEBRUARY 19 DEADLINE, PLEASE FOLLOW THE SIMPLE STEPS BELOW
TO SEND A FREE MESSAGE URGING THE CHIEF OF THE FOREST SERVICE TO KEEP
THESE LANDS WILD AND FREE.  

For more background information, see the very end of this message.

**********************TAKE ACTION NOW!****************

To send the message below, as is, to the Chief of the Forest Service,
hit "reply" to this email and then "send."  We will automatically
send the message for you.

However, we urge you to greatly increase your impact by adding your
own thoughts to your message.  Personalizing your message only takes
a minute; see below for details.

ADD YOUR OWN THOUGHTS AND INCREASE YOUR IMPACT  

Log in to your Personal Action Center --
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/login.asp -- with your email
address (alerts@earthhopenetwork.net) and your password.  (If you have
forgotten your password, follow the instructions on the log-in page
to have a new password emailed to you.)

Once you are in your Personal Action Center, click on "Protect Forest
Wildlife" and follow the instructions for adding your own thoughts to
your message.

Nearly 35,000 activists are enrolled in the Conservation Action
Network.  We need many more to face the upcoming threats to our
environment.  Please urge your friends and colleagues to join and
take this action today by visiting the Conservation Action Network at
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/

*********************LETTER TEXT******************

Dear Chief Bosworth:

I write to urge you to rescind the roadless area directives that you
issued on December 14, 2001.  Instead I urge you to keep our national
roadless areas largely off-limits to logging, mining, and drilling by
implementing the January 12, 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.  

The American public has made known its strong support for roadless
areas.  Ninety percent of the 2.2 million comments the Forest Service
received during its extensive outreach effort supported the strongest
protection possible for these wild lands.

Roadless areas in our national forests provide refuge for wildlife,
reservoirs for plant life, and protection for the freshwater supplies
for local communities.  They are vital resources that must be
protected.

Sincerely,

Your name and address
will be inserted here

***********************END OF LETTER TEXT*********************

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

More than two-thirds of the U.S. national forest system is
crisscrossed by 380,000 miles of roads (enough to circle the planet
more than 16 times) that break up habitat, cause soil erosion, and
leave fragmented stands of timber vulnerable to disease.

The Forest Service's December 2001 directives would seriously
undermine the roadless rule by

*  eliminating requirements that there must be a compelling need to
build roads in roadless areas

*  eliminating the requirement for preparing an environmental impact
statement prior to building roads in roadless areas

*  eliminating protection for uninventoried roadless areas that serve
as vital buffers to large roadless and wilderness areas

* creating a loophole for logging old-growth forests in roadless
areas.

Please act now to protect our natural heritage.

______________________________________________________________________
Direct any questions about the WWF Conservation Action Network to
actionquestions@takeaction.worldwildlife.org
______________________________________________________________________
The Conservation Action Network is sponsored by World Wildlife Fund-
US.  Known worldwide by its panda logo, WWF is dedicated to
protecting the world's wildlife and the rich biological diversity
that we all need to survive.  The leading privately supported
international conservation organization in the world, WWF has
sponsored more than 2,000 projects in 116 countries and has more than
1 million members in the United States.  WWF calls on everyone --
government, industry, and individuals -- to take responsibility by
taking action to save our living planet.

World Wildlife Fund
1250 Twenty-fourth Street, NW
Washington, DC  20037
http://www.worldwildlife.org
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org

DEN Alert: Help Stop Cormorant Killing Plan

To please fish farmers and fishermen, the federal government may
soon allow the killing of 200,000 double-crested cormorants every
year. That's 10 percent of the continental population of these
native water birds. Fish farmers claim cormorants are eating too
many of their catfish. But scientific research has concluded that
catfish make up only a small part of cormorants' diet. Sport and
commercial fishermen contend that cormorants are depleting
populations of small-mouth bass. But research has shown that the
more likely causes are water pollution and the presence of
non-native species such as zebra mussels.


WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Send a free fax urging federal officials not to embark on a
wholesale slaughter of double-crested cormorants. If you don't have
access to the Internet, please mail your letter to: Jon Andrew,
Chief, Division of Migratory Bird management, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 634, Arlington,
VA 22203 or fax it to: 703-358-2272. Comments will be accepted
until FEBRUARY 28, so please send your fax today.

If you can, please also attend a public hearing on this issue. A
list of the hearings is at the end of this e-mail.


INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB:

If you have access to the web, simply click on the link below which
will take you to the DEN Action Center web site:

                        http://www.denaction.org



SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials:

As a citizen concerned about our nation's wildlife, I am writing to
urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reject a proposal to
increase the number of double-crested cormorants allowed to be
killed every year.

Double-crested cormorants are under attack by fish farmers and
sportfishermen who believe these birds are preying on excessive
amounts of farm-raised catfish and small-mouth bass. But scientific
research has concluded that cormorants do not negatively impact
either of these fish.

I urge you to address the real causes of these declining fish
populations, such as poor water quality.

Thank you for considering my comments.

Sincerely,


Hearing dates and locations:

February 4, 2002
7:00 p.m.        
Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center
5550 Flat Creek Road (Farm Road 2495)
Athens, TX

February 5, 2002   
6:00 p.m.
Clarion Hotel and Convention Center
400 Greymont Avenue
Jackson, MS

February 6, 2002     
6:00 p.m.
University of Arkansas
Cooperative Extension Service
2301 S. University Avenue
Little Rock, AR       

February 11, 2002  
7:00 p.m.
Clarion Hotel
1117 Williston Road        
South Burlington, VT

February 12, 2002
7:00 p.m.   
Dulles State Office Building
317 Washington Street
Watertown, NY

February 13, 2002
7:00 PM
Sheraton University Hotel
801 University Avenue
Syracuse, NY        

February 14, 2002
7:00 p.m.
Doubletree Hotel
Lloyd Center
1000 NE Multnomah
Portland, OR   


Sample Talking Points:

* The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal gives federal, tribal
and state officials too much leeway to kill double-crested
cormorants.

* Research studies conducted around the world have shown that
catfish and small-mouth bass make up a small proportion of
cormorants' diet.

* Cormorants pose no threat to fish populations or local economies.

* More public education is needed to counteract the inaccurate
public perception of cormorants as a threat to sport and commercial
fisheries.

* Federal officials should tackle the real causes of these
declining fish populations, such as polluted water. To save
small-mouth bass, they should work to reduce pollution and
non-native species. To protect fish farms, they should support
non-lethal means such as robotic scarecrows now in use in Louisiana.

___________________________________________________________

To SUBSCRIBE to DENlines, visit Defenders' website at:
http://www.defenders.org/den or send an e-mail to
DEN@defenders.org and put the word SUBSCRIBE in the
subject line, and your name and address in the text area.  

DENlines is a biweekly publication of Defenders of Wildlife, a
leading national conservation organization recognized as one of
the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its
habitat and known for its effective leadership on saving
endangered species such as brown bears and gray wolves. Defenders
advocates new approaches to wildlife conservation that protect
species before they become endangered. Founded in 1947, Defenders
is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with more than 480,000
members and supporters.

                       Defenders of Wildlife
                  1101 14th Street, NW, Suite 1400
                       Washington, DC 20005
                     http://www.defenders.org
                     http://www.kidsplanet.org        
           Copyright (c) 2002 by Defenders of Wildlife

TO: ACLU Action Network Members
FR: Jared Feuer, Internet Organizer
DT: January 31, 2002

In mid-November, President Bush issued an executive order that would allow special military tribunals to try non-citizens charged with terrorism.  The breadth of his order raises serious concerns about whether the government will provide basic due process protections to those tried by military tribunals.

The ACLU believes that if the government insists on the use of military tribunals, then these trials must ensure the fundamental rights of the accused.  These rights include the right to an attorney of their own choosing and to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.  Furthermore, evidence must NOT be obtained through torture or coercive interrogation.

The Department of Defense, which has been charged with drafting regulations for how the tribunals will be used, has recently made assurances that the tribunals will adhere to standards of fairness and equal protection.  We must act now to ensure that the Department follows through on its promises.

Take Action!  You can read more and send a FREE FAX to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld from our action alert at:

http://www.aclu.org/action/tribunals107.html

**********
Help Strengthen the ACLU's Voice in Congress ...
Click Below to Become a Card-Carrying Member today!
http://www.aclu.org/action/joinaclu.html

You can help protect ocean wildlife and restore our
nation's fish populations by asking your U.S. Representative
to co-sponsor a bill that would strengthen fishery
management and ocean conservation.  

You can take action on this alert either via email
(please see directions below) or via the web at:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/fisheries/wkxwk74o78xxnk

Visit the web address below and tell your friends to
take action on this important campaign!
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/fisheries/forward/wkxwk74o78xxnk

We encourage you to take action by March 2, 2002

AOC Action Alert - Save America's Ocean Fish

----------------------

America's ocean fish are in crisis and many are at
risk of extinction due to years of federal mismanagement.
We now know that far more fish are caught and killed
every year than our oceans are able to produce. According
to a recent American Fisheries Society study (AFS)
over 30 fish species have been so mismanaged that they
are on the brink of extinction. Some of these species
include: Atlantic salmon, Atlantic halibut, goliath
grouper, chinook salmon, cowcod and bocaccio.  

We need to put conservation of fish populations at
the forefront of fishery management decisions. When
ocean fisheries collapse, as many already have, the
impact is devastating on the environment, fishermen,
fishing communities, and everyone who depends on our
oceans for food, jobs and recreation. If fish populations
are allowed to go extinct these benefits will be lost
forever.  

Last summer, Congressman Sam Farr of California introduced
HR 2570, the Fisheries Recovery Act of 2001. The bill
will close loopholes in current law, and make the primary
goal of fishing regulations to conserve ocean fish.
HR 2570 will:  

1. stop overfishing  
2. reduce the killing of non-target fish and other
ocean life  
3. protect essential fish habitats from damaging fishing
practices  
4. require consideration of ecosystem needs when making
management decisions  
5. fund improved research and reporting

You can help protect ocean wildlife and restore our
nation's fish populations by asking your U.S. Representative
to co-sponsor the Fisheries Recovery Act.

----------------------

INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB:
If you have access to a web browser, you can take action
on this alert by going to the following URL:

http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/fisheries/wkxwk74o78xxnk  

INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA EMAIL:
Just choose the "reply to sender" option on your email
program, and edit the letter below as you wish. Do
not delete "-YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW-" and "-END
OF LETTER-". Please do not add your name and address
to your letter. Our system automatically does this
for you.  

We STRONGLY encourage you to make edits directly to
our sample letter below, and put the alert talking
points into your own words. An individualized letter
is worth ten computer generated letters. Of course,
hundreds of unedited letters will still create a large
impact, so please reply even if you don't have time
to personalize the letter.

Your letter will be addressed and sent to:
Representative Maurice Hinchey


-------YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW---------

Our nation's ocean fish populations are under tremendous
stress. In 2000, a record-high number of ocean fish
stocks (107) were overfished or experienced overfished
conditions. A recent scientific report showed that
31 federally-managed ocean fish species are at risk
of extinction. The nation's ocean environment, fishing
industry, and culture are at risk unless we seriously
take actions to ensure fish populations are sustainable.

As my U.S. representative, I ask you to co-sponsor
H.R. 2570 - the Fisheries Recovery Act of 2001. This
bill will strengthen federal management of our ocean
fisheries by addressing many of the problems that have
contributed to fish population declines and habitat
loss. It will improve basic fishery science by involving
fishermen in a cooperative data gathering approach,
stop overfishing, encourage use of fishing gear that
does not damage habitats, and reduce the catch of non-targeted
wildlife such as birds and turtles.  

Ocean fisheries have played an integral role in our
culture and economy for the entire history of our nation.
The continued decline and collapse of many historically
productive fisheries are reminders that fish management
has not kept pace with our capacity to exploit it.
We have a responsibility to protect and manage our
fisheries so that the stocks remain healthy and sustainable
fishing can continue into the future. Thank you for
your consideration.

-------END OF LETTER-------------------------

News Release:
31 January 2002
http://www.etcgroup.org

Sterile Harvest:

New Crop of Terminator Patents Threatens Food Sovereignty

The World's Largest Agrochemical and Seed Enterprises --Syngenta & DuPont -- Win Two New Patents on Genetic Seed Sterilization

The ETC group (formerly RAFI) announced today that the biotechnology industry continues to aggressively pursue the development of
genetically modified seeds that are engineered for sterility.  "We have uncovered two new patents on Terminator technology," said Hope Shand, Research Director of ETC group. "One patent is held by Dupont (the world's largest seed corporation) and the other is held by Syngenta (the world's largest agrochemical corporation)," said Shand.

Terminator has been widely condemned as an immoral technology that threatens global food security, especially for the 1.4 billion people who depend on farm-saved seed. If commercialized, the technology will prevent farmers from saving seed from their harvest for planting the following season. In 1999, due to widespread public opposition to Terminator seeds, both Monsanto (soon-to-be-spun-off by Pharmacia) and AstraZeneca (now Syngenta) publicly vowed not to commercialize
genetic seed sterilization technology.1

"Contrary to what some of these companies have pledged in the past, the Gene Giants are refining the technology and moving forward to
commercialize Terminator seeds," warns Hope Shand, Research Director of the ETC group. "Terminator is a real and present danger for global food security and biodiversity - governments and civil society cannot afford to let 'suicide seeds' slip beneath their radar," said Shand.

Syngenta, the world's largest agribusiness firm, holds the largest arsenal of Terminator patents to date.2 In 1999, Zeneca's R&D director wrote that Terminator was "one piece of technology we did
not want to take forward, and the project was stopped in 1992."3 Why, then, has the company continued to file for and win Terminator
patents since 1992? (The newest Syngenta patent issued on May 8, 2001. The application date was March 22, 1997, long after Zeneca claims it stopped the project.)

"Obviously, we can't rely on the goodwill of multinational seed and agrochemical corporations to safeguard the public from the threat of
Terminator seeds. If these companies are serious about abandoning the technology, they should surrender their patents to the control of the
UN Food & Agriculture Organization, agreeing not to develop the technology themselves, nor allow others access to their technologies," advised Julie Delahanty.

Two New Terminator Patents:

Dupont (Pioneer Hi-Bred International), US Patent 6,297,426, issued October 2, 2001.  Title: Methods of mediating female fertility in plants. The patent describes the identification and inactivation of a native gene critical to female fertility. The gene is cloned, linked to an inducible promoter and inserted into the plant. The result is a plant that is functionally female sterile with inducible female fertility. (Note: Although the patent describes the use of this
technology for facilitating production of hybrid seed, this approach involves chemical control of female fertility, and its extension to other seed lines. ETC group considers this a Terminator-type
technology.)

Syngenta (Zeneca), US Patent 6,228,643, issued May 8, 2001. Title: Promoter. The patent describes a new promoter, isolated fromrapeseed, and the control of plant traits (including fertility) that
can be inactivated and restored by application of a chemical inducer. In one embodiment, the seeds will not germinate unless sprayed with a
chemical inducer.

Industry's "Green Gene" Defense of Terminator:
The new Syngenta patent does not describe its technology as a method to prevent farmers from saving seed, but as an approach to prevent
unwanted gene flow from transgenic varieties. In theory, any seed that goes where it shouldn't would die without the application of a chemical inducer.  According to the patent:

"A problem addressed by the present invention is the containment of crop plants within the area of cultivation. Seeds of cultivated crop plants may
be conveyed outside the defined growing area by a number of routes(by birds or small mammals or simply by being dropped during post-harvest transport of a seed crop) where they assume the status of weeds, or they may remain as vounteers in a subsequent crop in later years...It will be appreciated that the problems of crop non-confinement mentioned above become more acute where transgenic crops are involved... Ways to reduce viability of such hybrids would limit the risk of transgene escape to non-crop species thus avoiding the spreading of plants with enhanced invasiveness or weediness." -US patent 6,228,643

It is irresponsible and unacceptable to suggest that society must accept genetic seed sterilization as a method for solving industry's
genetic pollution problem. Food security for poor people must not be sacrificed to gain commercial acceptance for an unsafe and unproven technology.

The biotech industry is reeling from the most recent debacles involving GM pollution from transgenic plants. The Mexican Ministry
of Environment confirmed again last week that indigenous farmers' maize varieties in Oaxaca and Puebla have been contaminated with DNA
from genetically modified (GM) maize. It is illegal to grow GM maize in Mexico precisely because of the potential threat to the world's
primary center of maize diversity. In Canada, the escape of transgenes from GM canola is a menace for organic farmers who cannot certify their canola crops as GM-free. On January 10, 2002 organic farmers in Saskatchewan filed a class action suit against Aventis and Monsanto.

"It is particularly alarming that the Gene Giants (and some governments) are promoting Terminator under the guise of biosafety," explains Julie Delahanty of ETC group. "The industry's primary goal is to gain market acceptance for seed sterility as a biosafety tool, which will then give them carte blanche to use it as a monopoly tool for maximizing seed industry profits," said Delahanty.

Terminator on the Road to Rio+10:
New Terminator patents underscore industry's ongoing investment in the goal of genetic seed sterilization and the urgent need for governments to ban these technologies before they are commercialized.

Terminator is on the agenda this week at meetings in New York City, Porto Alegre and Montreal.  ETC group, together with civil society organizations and governments, will hold briefings on the issue at the Rio+10 PrepCom in New York, at the World Social Forum in Brazil, and in Montreal at an informal consultation on the impacts of
Terminator on local communities and Farmers' Rights (held under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity).

In the months leading up to Rio+10, intergovernmental organizations have a critical role to play in raising global awareness and
recommending actions to ban the technology.


COP6 - The Sixth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity meets in The Hague, 8-26 April 2002. After numerous studies on genetic trait control technology, COP6 should ban
Terminator as an anti-farmer technology that threatens biodiversity and food sovereignty.

World Food Summit Five Years Later: When governments meet 10-13 June 2002 in Rome they should re-affirm the findings of FAO's Panel of
Eminent Experts on Ethics, which concluded that Terminator seeds are unethical, and recommend that member nations ban the technology.

World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio+10): Heads of State meeting in South Africa in 26 August- 4 Sept. 2002 will have the opportunity to call for a ban on Terminator technology as an immoral application of genetic engineering that threatens biodiversity and food security.

Please go to our web site, www.etcgroup.org, to enter our April Fools' Day contest.  We need your help completing the sentence, "Using GM Terminator to halt GM seed contamination is like..."

For more information:

Julie Delahanty, ETC group: (613) 262-8519 (cell) julie@etcgroup.org
Hope Shand, ETC group:  (919) 960-5223 hope@etcgroup.org
Silvia Ribeiro, ETC group: silvia@etcgroup.org

Notes:
1 Pharmacia, which currently owns 85% of Monsanto, will distribute its Monsanto stock to shareholders in second half of 2002.
2 See RAFI/ETC group, "New Terminator Patent Goes to Syngenta," News Release, 12 March 2001. www.etcgroup.org
3 Letter from Dr. D.A. Evans, R&D Director, Zeneca Agrochemicals, to Prof. Richard Jefferson, CAMBIA, Australia, 24 Feb. 1999.

The Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration, formerly RAFI, is an international civil society organization headquartered in
Canada. The ETC group (pronounced Etcetera group) is dedicated to the advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights. www.etcgroup.org