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To: All Activists
From: Steve
Holmer & Ian Stumpf (American Lands' political intern)
Date: August 8, 2002
Subject: Upcoming Events, Reports
& Resources
NATIONAL FOREST PROTECTION ALLIANCE FORTH ANNUAL
CONVENTION, Sisters,
Oregon, October 10 - 13
Join grassroots
activists from across the nation as we build upon our
vision for the
permanent protection of our National Forests! Once a year
the network of the
National Forest Protection Alliance (NFPA) gathers to
review and revise our
strategies to end the commercial logging program
on public lands. The
Convention will be held at Suttle Lake Retreat
Center, near Sisters, Oregon,
which is located in the beautiful Cascade
mountains. Contact
mailto:nfpa@forestadvocate.org, or 406-542-7565 for
more
information. Register on-line at http://www.forestadvocate.org.
RangeNet 2002 Conference, Boise ID, October 10 & 11
Bovines or Biodiversity: The National Campaign to End Abusive Public
Lands Ranching.
Registration is now being accepted online for the
RangeNet 2002
Conference. Those who register by September 30,
2002 will be eligible
to receive one of five autographed, hardcover copies
of "Welfare
Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West" that
will be
awarded by drawing at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 10, 2002 (must
be
present to win). See http://www.rangenet.org/rn2002 for
full agenda,
registration, & information. Direct your
questions and concerns to our
hosts (Western Watersheds Project) at: (208)
788-2290 or
mailto:wwp@westernwatersheds.org.
THE GREEN PLANET,
DAMN IT! FESTIVAL 2002, Iowa, Oct. 4-6
Grinnell College is sponsoring
The Green Planet, Damn It! Festival 2002
on October 4-6 that focuses on
public lands issues such as Endangered
Forests. Events include
workshops, trainings, panels, regional
meetings, organization and campaign
fairs, poetry readings, film fests,
live music by indie bands, and
nationally renowned speakers like Julia
Butterfly Hill and Lou
Gold. Registration costs for students is $22.00,
but no one will
be turned away for lack of funds. A portion of the
money raised
will be given to political prisoners and grassroots
projects around the
nation. For more information,
mailto:nagamats@grinnell.edu. Please include Name,
College/University,
Campus group, Address, Phone Number, and Email.
THINGS PEOPLE CAN DO TO HELP STOP THE SPREAD OF INVASIVE SPECIES
There are simple steps every citizen can take to halt the growing threat
from invasive plants and animals such as the now famous snakehead fish
from China, says American Lands Alliance. Gardeners can
play a major
role when choosing what plants to put in their garden, so we
have
prepared lists of plants available on our website, to help them avoid
planting harmful invasives.
Invasive exotic species threaten
National Parks and wilderness areas,
other federal and state lands and
waters, and nearly half of the species
listed as endangered or threatened in
the United States. Researchers at
Cornell University estimate
that the U.S. economy is losing as much as
$100 billion a year due to these
harmful invasions. Every day the
problem worsens as exotic
species of plants and animals continue to
enter the country or to spread to
new areas.
Every citizen can help reverse this trend by following these
simple
steps:
1. Never release a domesticated or captive animal into
the wild.
Exotic (foreign) animals are brought to America for many
reasons C to be
our companions, to serve as foods or medicinals, or as fish
bait.
Native animals that are moved to new ecosystems where they did not
evolve can become damaging invaders. Released animals can
also
transmit diseases to wildlife.
Keep your pets confined C cats
in the house, dogs in the yard. Never
release aquarium fish,
caged birds, reptiles or amphibians, or bait fish
into the
wild. Do not Astock@ areas with fish or wildlife without
obtaining permission.
2. Find out which plant species are invasive
in your area and avoid
planting them. Consider removing any
invasive plants already present on
your property.
Seeds from plants
in your yard can be carried by wildlife, wind, or
water into surrounding
wildlands. American Lands has provided regional
lists of
invasive plants on its website:
http://www.AmericanLands.org/gardeners_and_invasive_plants.htm. More
specific information is often available from regional Exotic Pest Plant
Councils or native plant societies. Check our website for links.
3. Join other volunteers working to control invasive species
on public
lands.
Volunteer Aweed@ pulls are organized by National
Park or National Forest
staff, regional Exotic Pest Plant Councils, or
native plant societies.
NATIVE PLANT CONSERVATION CAMPAIGN
Calling all Native Plant Societies, Botanical Gardens, Arboreta and
other groups working to conserve the flora of the U.S. The
California
Native Plant Society (CNPS) and the Center for Biological
Diversity
invite you to join us in a new project - the Native
Plant Conservation
Campaign. The goal of the Campaign is to
assemble a national network of
native plant societies, botanical gardens,
and other plant conservation
organizations that will support each other's
work, exchange information
and work together to create a strong national
voice in support of native
plants. We will advocate for:
*
improved staffing and funding for Federal botany programs on National
Parks,
National Forests, BLM lands, and within the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service
* improved staffing and funding for prevention and control programs for
invasive exotic organisms
* increased use of local native plant species
in restoration
* increased funding for plant science research and education
* changes in Federal law better to conserve imperiled plants
A full
project description is available at
http://www.cnps.org/NPCC/npcc.pdf For
more information about the
Native Plant Conservation Campaign contact Emily
Roberson at mailto:
EMILYR@CNPS.ORG or go to http://www.cnps.org/npcc.htm.
THE ROADLESS YAAK
The Roadless Yaak is a compilation of
essays by 36 of the country’s
leading essayists, poets and scientists about
the roadless initiative
and the Yaak Valley in the Kootenai National Forest
of Montana. Author
Rick Bass edited and contributed to the
book. One hundred percent of
the proceeds from this book will go
to the support of the Yaak Valley
Forest Council’s campaign to protect
roadless areas. For more
information, contact Rick Bass at
mailto:bass@lclink.com.
Hidden Costs of Logging on National Forests
in Texas 1987-1999
Ecology and Law Institute has completed a study of
the logging program
on National Forests in Texas, exposing the fact that the
program
resulted in far more economic harm than good over the past 14 years.
The full report can be viewed at
http://www.forestconservation.org/PublicationsandReports/pubs.htm.
The
report was prepared in collaboration with Live Oak Alliance, Sierra
Club, and many local activists. The methodology we used can be
replicated elsewhere, and ELI is certainly open to working with other
organizations to complete similar studies for other National Forests.
Please contact John Talberth, Ecology and Law Institute/
FCC (505)
986-1163, mailto:jtalberth@cybermesa.com
The
U.S. Forest Service maintains that the timber sale program on
National
Forests in Texas is an unqualified economic success. According
to
Forest Service calculations, the program yielded net revenues of over
$87
million to U.S. taxpayers, had a present net value of over $200
million,
created nearly 19,000 jobs, and generated almost $622 million
in regional
income between 1987 and 1999. These figures, however, were
generated by a discredited and now abandoned accounting system that kept
many timber sale program costs off the books and hidden from public
scrutiny. While the Forest Service includes many of the costs
related
to planning and implementing timber sales in its official analyses,
many
other costs are ignored. In addition, the Forest Service
fails to
deduct payments to counties and uses improper accounting procedures
that
tend to exaggerate benefits and underestimate
costs. In this report,
we show that when these
irregularities are corrected and just a sample
of additional timber sale
program costs are included, the 1987-1999
timber sale program actually lost
at least $26-32 million from the
perspective of the U.S. Treasury.
Significant as they are, these financial losses may be dwarfed by hidden
costs to individuals, businesses, and communities who benefit from
ecosystem services provided by unlogged National Forest lands. In
this
report, we estimate the potential magnitude of just three of these
externalized costs: loss of recreational use and value, loss of passive
use values for remote forest settings, and costs associated with
increased sedimentation from National Forest logging and road building
operations. While an exact accounting of these costs is beyond
the
scope of this report, we show that the magnitude of such losses can
easily be in the order of $326 to $473 million between 1987 and 1999.
FIELD GUIDE TO TIMBER THEFT
The long awaited Field Guide to
Timber Theft: Understanding Timber
Sales, the Contract & the
Law is available to forest activists. The
guide was developed
specifically for forest activists by several members
former members of the
Forest Service’s Timber Theft Investigative
Branch. The Guide is
useful in understanding timber sales on public and
private lands and
includes tips for using confidential information
received by whistleblowers
or informants. Download the 32 page report
as an Adobe Acrobat
file at http://www.whistleblower.org.
THE POWER MAP QUICK GUIDE IN UNDERSTANDING WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Quick Guide provides an essential guide of federal officials at the
national level that are involved in forestry issues. To make
changes in
policy and programs, practitioners must work strategically to
meet the
right people at the national and field levels. These
people include
members of interest groups, other community practitioners,
agency
officials, etc. This is a map to navigate through the
social and
political landscape of Washington, D.C. The Quick
Guide contains
several components that assist in influencing
policymakers: a graphic
map of key federal entities with
jurisdiction over programs important to
community forestry practitioners,
information about the mission of
federal agencies and jurisdiction of
congressional committees, key
offices and contacts in the executive and
legislative branches,
suggestions on talking points about key forestry
issues. For more
information contact: Christina Cromley,
Director of Forest Policy,
AMERICAN FORESTS, P.O. Box 2000, Washington, DC
20013, 202/955-4500.
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES & WWF CONFIRMS
THAT HUMANITY IS DRAINING
GLOBAL BIOSPHERE
Scientists have concluded
that since the 1980s humans have exceeded the
regenerative capacity of the
biosphere. So, the total area globally
available for growing
crops, grazing animals, harvesting timber,
accommodating infrastructure,
absorbing CO2 produced by burning fossil
fuels, and marine fishing has been
greatly diminished by human
activity. Such measurements of the
earth’s biological productivity
began in 1961 when human demand used about
70 percent of the Earth’s
regenerative capacity. By the
mid-1970s, that demand rose to match the
total global supply. The
human demand upon the earth now is estimated
to exceed its supply by at
least one quarter, meaning that it would take
approximately a year and three
months to renew what humanity used in a
single year.
The World
Wildlife Federation (WWF) has recently supported and expanded
upon this fact
in a recent paper entitled the Living Planet Report. The
WWF
defines the renewable natural resource consumption compared with
nature’s
biologically productive capacity as the ecological footprint.
A country’s
footprint is the total area required to produce the food and
fibers that a
country consumes, sustain its energy consumption, and give
space for its
infrastructure. Humanity’s ecological footprint grew at
an
average of 1.6 percent per year from 1961 to 1999 while the world
population
grew slightly faster at 1.8 percent per year. This means
that the
growth of humanity is quickly outpacing the capacity of the
Earth.
The ecological footprint is measured in several different
areas. One
such area is the cropland footprint. The
cropland footprint grew by
less than 10 percent while the human population
almost doubled. In
addition to that, the cropland footprint of
the average North American
was nearly three times that of the world
average. Another key
ecological footprint is the grazing land
footprint. Humanity’s demand
for grazing land increased by a
whopping 80 percent between 1961 and
1999. A nation’s forest
footprint is the area required to produce the
forest products which that
nation consumes. The world’s forest
footprint grew by 50 percent
between 1961 and 1999. Over the same
period of time, the fishing
ground footprint grew rapidly at 2.6 percent
per year on average with a
larger footprint in island nations with small
populations.
A
nation’s energy footprint represents the area required to sustain its
energy
consumption and encompasses four types of energy: fossil fuels
such as coal, oil, and natural gas, biomass such as fuelwood and
charcoal, nuclear and hydroelectric power. The energy footprint
is the
fastest growing component of the global ecological footprint,
increasing
at an average rate of 2.6 percent per year between 1961 and 1999.
However, the energy footprint shows the greatest disparity between
incomes in rich and poor countries. The amount of income a
country has
also plays a key role in water withdrawals of a country with
richer
countries using far more water than poorer
countries. Overall, global
water use doubled over the last four
decades, but it has stayed
relatively in line with world population.
The WWF and the National Academy of Sciences believes that governments
could reverse some of these negative trends and put humanity back on a
path to sustainable development if they address some key
issues. “The
fact that we live on a bountiful planet, but not a
limitless one,
presents world leaders...with a clear challenge,” said Dr.
Claude
Martin, Director General of WWF International. “Ensuring
access to
basic resources and improving the health and livelihoods of the
world’s
poorest people can not be tackled separately from maintaining the
integrity of natural ecosystems, we will never be able to guarantee an
acceptable standard of living for much of the world’s population.”
For more information, download the report by the National Academy of
Scientists entitled Tracking the ecological overshoot of the human
economy at http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/99/14/9266
or email
Kyla Evans, Head of Press, WWF International at
mailto:kevans@wwfint.org.
INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN WILDERNESS
COALITION
The American Wilderness Coalition (AWC) was established in
January 2001
to support the efforts of wilderness advocates and
organizations
nationwide working to protect America’s last remaining wild
places. The
AWC seeks to expand and protect the more than 105
million acres of
public land that make up the National Wilderness
Preservation System
(NWPS). Moreover, there are 643 individual
Wilderness areas protected
by the NWPS with wilderness areas in all but six
of our 50 states. Yet,
there are millions of acres of quality
public land that remain
unprotected.
The AWC also provides the Wild
Card as a key resource in the continuing
campaign for wilderness
protection. The Wild Card is a wilderness and
public lands report
card examining the votes and positions of members of
Congress on key
wildland issues. For more information on the AWC, visit
their
website at http://americanwilderness.org.
SERConline
The State Environmental Resource Center
Legislative Exchange (SERCLE)
brings you the most important news on state
environmental legislation
from across the country. For example,
SERCLE recently reported that
California voters passed the largest park and
wildlife bond ever giving
$2.6 billion to improve air quality, build and
maintain new neighborhood
parks, and preserve open
spaces. For more information, visit the
website at http://www.serconline.org.
COURT RULES THAT THE EPA CAN LIMIT RIVER RUNOFF
A
federal appeals court upheld an interpretation of certain provisions
of the
1972 Clean Water Act that gives the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA)
the authority to set limits on pollution of rivers from
logging and
agricultural runoff. The ruling instructs the EPA to force
states
to come up with ways to reduce pollution in rivers and waterways
contaminated solely by runoff. This way, states must decide how
to
achieve the limits, through restrictions on logging, road-building and
other practices or risk losing federal funds. The suit was filed
by the
American Farm Bureau Federation among others.
THE LEWIS
& CLARK BICENTENNIAL BRINGING ATTENTION TO WILDLANDS
The Lewis &
Clark Bicentennial (2003-2006) holds great promise for
protecting wild
America. The bicentennial is also an opportunity to
highlight the
Sierra Club’s national effort to protect the lands
explored by Lewis &
Clark. The first major national event will be in
January at
Monticello. For more information, visit
http://www.sierraclub.org/lewisandclark/
America's last great temperate rainforest -- Alaska's
Tongass National
Forest -- is once again under assault from the timber
industry and its
allies. The Bush administration has recommended
that more than 9 million
acres -- more than one-half of this spectacular old
growth forest --
receive absolutely no protection whatsoever, opening the
doors for big
timber and mining interests who want to exploit this national
treasure.
A New York Times editorial called the Bush administration
proposal "an
insult".
With more than 30 timber sales moving forward
in the Tongass, we need you
to take action now! Just visit http://www.environet.org/grassroots
to
submit your official comment to the Forest Service.
The Tongass
National Forest stretches for 500 miles along Alaska's
spectacular
southeastern coastline. A dramatic landscape of glacial fjords,
volcanic
mountains, misty rainforests, giant conifers, and luxurious
tundra, the
Tongass -- at 17 million acres the largest U.S. national forest
-- contains
rich salmon spawning grounds and prime grizzly bear habitat. It
also boasts
the world's densest population of bald eagles.
Because of the unique
nature of the Tongass, a federal court required the
Bush Administration to
review all roadless areas for permanent protection.
Unfortunately, the Bush
Administration rejected a variety of sound
environmental options. Instead,
it recommended a proposal that heavily
favors the commercial timber industry
by recommending no protection for
roadless areas and offering no new
wilderness designations.
The better alternative, which the Bush
administration should be adopting,
is the Alaska Rainforest Conservation
Proposal, Alternative 6, a sensible
alternative that safeguards valuable
old-growth stands and other pristine
areas of the Tongass.
Time is
short and the deadline for your comments is approaching. Please,
join me
today in sending a loud and clear message to the Bush
Administration: Our
national forests are national treasures and once
they're gone, they're gone
forever. All you need to do to help save this
national treasure is click on
the "Compose fax" button, below, or visit
http://www.environet.org/grassroots.
Thanks for your help on this important issue!
Sincerely,
Andrew Katkin
Web Manager and e-Outreach coordinator
National
Environmental Trust
Global Warming | Clean AirChildren's
Environmental Health | Heritage
Forests |
Marine Conservation
Greenpeace's Positive Energy
August 5 - August 11,
2002
v 2.27
Time for Greenpeace's CLEAN ENERGY NOW! campaign's
weekly
good news update!!!
Inside this edition:
- Don't Let the
Utilities Stomp Out Solar
- Philippines Chooses Positive Energy
- Ben
& Jerry's Purchase Clean Energy Offsets
+++++
Don't Let the
Utilities Stomp Out Solar
PG&E and its bedfellows are attempting to
rollback a crucial
law that promotes the use of solar power to meet the
state's
power needs.
In the wake of last year's energy crisis,
Governor Davis
signed a bill that would allow solar systems up to a
megawatt in size (about enough electricity for 500 homes)
to plug into
the grid. Current net metering law allows
utility customers to send solar
power they don't use back
into the grid for the benefit of other
consumers. These
customers are then entitled to get the power
back at a time
when their solar panels are not producing electricity.
Assemblyman Fred Keeley (D-Boulder Creek) has written a bill,
AB 58,
that would support solar by extending the right to
net meter large solar
systems beyond the time limit set by
Governor Davis. The bill would also
impose time limits on
utilities so that they can't delay hooking solar up to
the
power grid. However, utility lobbyists have successfully
pressured
Assemblyman Keeley to change AB 58 to reduce the
rates paid to large
photovoltaic (solar) generators. If
AB 58 is not changed back to pay
photovoltaic (solar)
generators the full retail rate for electricity
produced,
we can kiss the growing solar industry in California goodbye
because the incentive to install large PV systems will be
gone!
Send a fax now to key Assembly Members, State Senators, and
California Governor Davis. Express your support for AB 58
and a clean
energy future!
http://www.cleanenergynow.org/bin/takeaction.fpl?action_id=142
Also: Watch for an e-mail from Bonnie Raitt, Robert Redford,
Graham Nash and David Crosby about this important issue and
more ways
you can help.
+++++
Philippines Chooses Positive Energy
The
Philippine government officially abandoned all proposals
for a coal-fired
power plant in Pulupadan in the province of
Negros. The Energy
Undersecretary of the Philippine
government, Cyril del Callar, announced
today that the
answer to their power needs is renewable
energy! This
decision came shortly after a Memorandum of
Understanding
that addressed the needed financial backing of technical
support for renewable energy technologies was issued to the
Philippine
government. This historic document coincided with
the last day of
Greenpeace's Choose Positive Energy ship
tour in the Philippines.
To
read more about the Philippines clean energy solutions,
visit:
http://greenpeace.org/news/details?news_id=21547
+++++
Ben & Jerry's Purchase Clean Energy Offsets
Ben & Jerry's, the makers of the famous flavors Cherry
Garcia
and Chunky Monkey ice cream, are investing in clean
energy. The
ice cream makers are participating in the
NativeEnergy's Wind Builders
Program that allows individuals
and businesses to invest in long-term
renewable energy
credits in order to support wind farm projects.
The
revenue from Ben & Jerry's investment will help fund the
first
large-scale wind turbine on a Native American
reservation. The Rosebud Sioux
Tribe in South Dakota is
expecting the turbine to be operational by this
November.
To read more about Ben & Jerry's clean energy
investments,
just go to:
http://www.solaraccess.com/news/story?storyid=2487
The "Positive Energy" newsletter and our web site,
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.
Help Greenpeace spread the word. Forward this e-mail
on to other caring individuals.
Want to do more? Become a
Greenpeace member today!
To give online, go to: https://www.greenpeaceusa.org/join2/cen.htm
To: Northeast Activists
From: John Demos
8/9/02
PLease send suggestions & requests to: demos@americanlands.org
The following is an op-ed I have submitted to Northeast papers.
FOREST SERVICE FAILING TO PROTECT HOMES
Fueled by western
forest fires, a conflagration in Congress threatens to devour our right to
intervene in federal plans affecting our public lands. Made tinder dry and
vulnerable by years of drought, unsustainable logging practices, and
shortsighted fire suppression policies, millions of acres of public and private
land have burned.
Luckily, here in the northeast, the incidence of fire
this year has been minimal. Experts refer to our woods as an “asbestos forest”
that poses small risk of catastrophic fire.
Elsewhere the danger is
frighteningly real. Hundreds of homes have burned, and the firefighter death
toll rises almost weekly. Along with the crisis, the general public has been
subjected to an acrimonious battle between logging interests (including their
political allies), and environmentalists. The pro-logging lobby has been highly
successful in laying the fault at the environmentalist campsite, blaming the
devastation on activist efforts to stop or delay fire prevention projects on
public lands. They argue that the problem would never have appeared, and would
soon be solved, if we simply put an end to “frivolous legal action by a few
extremists”.
But before you tear up that check to your favorite
environmental organization, or set out with the torch-bearing mob to their local
office, a bit of cold water (in the form of a few hard facts) needs to be poured
on the flames.
Pro logging interests maintain that environmentalists
have prevented the completion of fuels reduction projects through legal action,
even though a 2001 General Accounting Office (GAO) report exonerated
environmentalists, showing that only 1% of fire projects had been appealed and
none litigated. In an attempt to discredit the earlier report, another study was
released this past June by the Undersecretary of Agriculture, Mark Rey. The Rey
study claimed that in 2000 and 2001, of 326 projects, 48% had been appealed and
6% litigated. Yet last month, under questioning by members of Congress, the
agency admitted that this list of 326 doesn't actually exist.
The Forest
Service insists it is doing its utmost to protect lives and property, despite
testimony before Congressional oversight hearings in 2001 where the Service
stated that only 25% of the Hazardous Fuels Reduction funds were spent in the
area around high-risk communities. Currently, only 30% of the acres being
treated by the Forest Service and BLM are near homes and
communities.
The timber industry argues that logging is the
solution to reducing fires, and that roadless areas are a prescription for
disaster. But the vast majority of wildfires (76.8% in 2001) start on
private, state, and tribal lands where indiscriminate logging has been
extensive. Furthermore, studies show that most of the fires start near roads and
are caused by humans. Also, as we have seen again this year, arson has been
behind many of the catastrophes.
Exploiting the hysteria,
political allies of the timber giants have introduced a bill in the US House of
Representatives disingenuously titled “the National Forest Fire Prevention Act”.
This bill would suspend existing environmental protections on millions of acres
of National Forest land, thus banning public involvement. Similar legislation is
expected as riders on this year’s Senate and House Interior Appropriations
bills.
The real way to protect homes and lives is to require the Forest
Service to spend all of the Hazardous Fuels Reduction money treating areas
directly adjoining communities-at-risk.
Our Representative and Senators
need know increased logging will only worsen the fire hazard. Also,
they need to hear from Americans that we do not want our rights stripped away,
especially on our “asbestos forests”, to benefit a few in the logging industry.
For more information: www.americanlands.org
John Demos
Northeast Representative
American Lands Alliance
XIMF / WORLD BANK DEFORESTATION LOBBY WEEK 2002
Fall
campaign to halt International Monetary Fund and World Bank policies and loans
that fuel global deforestation
September 8 - 11, 2002
Washington, DC
American Lands Alliance invites you to register
for a week of training and lobbying in Washington, DC to halt the forest loss
that has been linked to International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank loans
and policies. Congress will be considering legislation this September that could
fundamentally change the functioning of the IMF and the World Bank. Of interest
to forest activists, one component of this proposal seeks to block these
institutions from causing deforestation.
As part of its loan programs to
developing countries, the IMF conditions its financial assistance on the
significant restructuring of nations’ economies through a process known as
“structural adjustment.” By opening up the economies—and thus the natural
resources—of client countries, the IMF is responsible for extensive
deforestation on a global scale. IMF objectives, such as export-led growth in
resource extraction industries, maximizing foreign investment in these sectors
(including ownership of land by foreign corporations), and insisting upon cuts
in government spending, are directly linked to loss of species diversity,
decimation of indigenous cultures, and extensive deforestation.
Like the
IMF, the World Bank also engages in structural adjustment lending. But the Bank
also loans money to countries for large-scale development and infrastructure
projects, such as hydropower dams, industrial forestry, and oil, gas, and mining
activities.
American Lands Alliance and a coalition of partner groups
from the labor, environment, and faith communities, are working to pass
legislation that would not only significantly alter the United States’ position
within these financial institutions, but by extension, would bring substantial
reform to the agencies themselves. The coalition proposal is broad, covering not
only environmental concerns, but also the debt of poor countries, worker rights,
HIV/AIDS, gender and health issues, transparency, and other areas of concern to
civil society. The forest portion, which is the focus of the lobby week, would
force US representatives to the financial institutions to oppose policies, loans
and documents that would lead to destruction of primary or old growth forests,
or critical forest habitat.
Schedule:
September 8-9 (Sunday and
Monday): Issue briefing and lobby training
September 10-11 (Tuesday and
Wednesday): Lobbying on the hill, with evening debriefs
Please consider
registering for the lobby week by filling out the brief form provided below.
There is limited funding for travel expenses, based on availability and need;
please note if funding is necessary for your participation.
You may want
to arrange your travel to fly in on Saturday, September 7, in order to take
advantage of many airlines’ Saturday-night stay-over discounts. Also, consider
flying into Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI), rather than
National Airport (DCA) or Dulles International Airport (IAD). BWI tends to be
the most affordable of the DC-area airports, and ground transportation from
there to Washington, DC, is relatively inexpensive and convenient.
There
is a low cost housing option available at the Penn House, which is located on
Capitol Hill. The rate is $35 a night, which includes a
breakfast. For reservations call the Penn House at (202)
543-5560. For more information see http://www.quaker.org/pen-house/lodging.htm. For
other low cost housing options please see http://www.americanlands.org/dc_hotels.htm.
For more information, contact: Jason Tockman at
tockman@americanlands.org or 740-594-5441.
IMF /
WORLD BANK DEFORESTATION LOBBY WEEK 2002
September 8 - 11, 2002 (Sunday
through Wednesday)
Washington, DC
-- Registration Form --
Name:
Organization (if applicable):
Mailing Address:
Phone:
Fax:
E-mail:
Do you need assistance with finding a place to stay?
Do you
need travel assistance?
Do you have any surplus frequent-flyer miles that
you'd be willing to donate to send a worthy activist to DC who otherwise cannot
afford the trip?
Please return to this form by e-mail to
tockman@americanlands.org or via fax to (740) 594-3842.
XDear Members of Global Response's "Quick Response
Network:"
In 1997 we celebrated a victory with the people of the Junin
region of
Ecuador, when we supported their efforts to stop development of
copper mines
by Bishimetals, a Mitsubishi subsidiary. Bishimetals abandoned
its Junin
project in 1997, but now the Ecuadorean government is auctioning
the Junin
mining concession to the highest bidder. The date of the auction
is August
15 -- giving us just a few days to lend international support to
the Junin
people in their determination to stop mining in their communities.
The
municipal government declared Cotacachi County an "ecological county"
and
passed an ordinance prohibiting "all non-sustainable activities that
pose a
threat to the health of the communities and the
environment." The federal
government is ignoring this ordinance
and the expressed opposition of the
local population to mining.
David Brower once cautioned that in our work to protect the environment,
all
defeats are permanent, and all victories are temporary. Please sign on
to
the letter below (see instructions after the letter) or send a fax/email
to
the Ecuadorean officials listed. Let's help the people of Cotacachi
County
win this critical second round in their struggle for locally driven
sustainable development vs environmentally destructive mining by
multinational corporations.
Be sure to send your fax/email before
August 15. Thanks for your
participation.
--Paula Palmer
REQUEST
FOR INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT
Please sign onto this letter that DECOIN (Defensa
y Conservation Ecologica
de Intag) and MPC are writing to Mr. Gustavo Noboa,
President of Ecuador,
and Mr. Pablo Teran, the Minister of Energy and Mines
in Ecuador, to express
our support for the communities of Intag in Ecuador
and to put pressure on
the Ecuadorian government to stop granting
concessions through auctions that
have to do with studies, exploration, and
mining exploitation in the
Cotacachi County. Attached below is
the letter signed on August 3, 2002 by
all six Parish government presidents
of the Intag Area, asking for a
suspension of the auction of the Junin
mining concession, set for August 15,
2002, by the Ministry of Energy and
Mines. In addition, it calls for the
suspension of all further
mining concessions in Cotacachi County. The
decision by the
Parish government representatives have full support of local
organizations
and communities including DECOIN, AACRI (Rio Intag Coffee
Growers’
Association), plus the environmental authorities of Cotacachi
County.
SIGN-ON LETTER
Dear President Noboa,
The undersigned organizations call on the government of Ecuador to
accept
the will of the communities of the Intag region in Cotacachi County
to
suspend the auction of the Junin mining concession set for August 15,
2002
by the Ministry of Energy and Mines and to stop ceding all concessions
and
auctions having to do with studies, exploration and mining exploitation
in
the Cotacachi County.
We ask the Ecuadorian government to respect
the Municipal Ordinance proposed
by the people of Intag and approved by the
Municipal government in 2000,
declaring Cotacachi an Ecological
County. The Municipal Ordinance prohibits
all non-sustainable
activities that pose a threat to the health of the
communities and the
environment. The ordinance strictly prohibits the
introduction of
dangerous substances into the environment as defined in
Article 43, which
states that “the establishment of industries or any other
productive
activity, which involves the use of, or threatens to introduce
into the
environment, noxious substances, such as heavy metals, including
mercury,
cyanide, lead and cadmium, is hereby prohibited.” The ordinance
also specifically prohibits mining in native forests. The
preamble states
that “the native forests of Cotacachi produce basic goods
and services for a
wide range of the county’s citizens. Thus, they may not
be felled or
degraded in order to make way for industrial activities such as
forestry,
flower, or African palm plantations, timber and mining projects,
or any
other activity of this kind.”
The Intag region is a very
important buffer area of the Cotacachi-Cayapas
Ecological Reserve, one of
the most biologically diverse protected areas in
the world, and the only
protected area of any significant size in all of
Western
Ecuador. E.O. Wilson, one of the world’s leading scientists and
often hailed as “the father of biodiversity” pointed out in his personal
letter to Carlos Zorrilla, President of DECOIN, to assist them in the fight
against the Mitsubishi Junin copper project in Oct. 1997:
As I
pointed out in my book, The Diversity of Life, the forests in western
Ecuador are among the hottest of the hot spots of the world, meaning they
are among the most endangered ecosystems, down to less than 10% their
original extent...and also contain exceptionally large numbers of plant and
animals species found nowhere else in the world.
The Municipal
Ordinance supports sustainable development. These alternative
sustainable
development projects being carried out in Cotacachi, include a
sustainable
coffee project, with over 300 families from all over the Intag
region
participating. The coffee is currently being sold in the fair trade
market in Japan, Ecuador and internationally. There are also several
community ecotourism projects, and many private and community ecological
reserves.
In keeping with the commitments of the Municipal
Ordinance, we ask the
Ecuadorian government to suspend the auction of the
Junin mining concession
set for August 15, 2002 by the Ministry of Energy
and Mines and to stop
ceding all concessions and auctions having to do with
studies, exploration
and mining exploitation in the Cotacachi County.
We, the undersigned organizations respect and support the communities of
the
Intag region and their commitment to promoting sustainable development
projects and preserving their environment. Thank you for your
attention.
End of letter.
HOW TO SIGN
ON
Please contact Clare Stark at Mineral Policy Center of your desire to
sign
on, at: "Clare Stark" cstark@mineralpolicy.org The letter
will also be sent
to mining companies in Ecuador.
If you wish to
write your own letter to the Ecuadorian government please fax
the following
contacts
Mr. Gustavo Noboa
President of Ecuador
Despacho de
Presidencia
Palacio Carondelet
Quito Ecuador
Fax: 5932 258 0710
Email: despresi@presidencia.ec-gov.net
Mr. Pablo Teran
Minister
of Energy and Mines
Quito, Ecuador
Fax: +5932 290 6350
Email:
lbenalcazar@menergia.gov.ec
********************************
Paula
Palmer, Executive Director
Global Response
P.O. Box 7490
Boulder CO
80306
USA
TEL: 303-444-0306
FAX: 303-449-9794
Email:
paula@globalresponse.org
Website: http://www.globalresponse.org
Global Response empowers people of all ages, cultures, and nationalities
to
protect the environment by creating partnerships for effective citizen
action. At the request of indigenous peoples and grassroots
organizations,
Global Response organizes international letter-writing
campaigns to help
communities prevent environmental
destruction. Global Response involves
young people as well as
adults in these campaigns, to develop in them the
skills for global citizen cooperation and earth stewardship.
Alert! Bush Administration Decimates Proposal to Protect Siskiyou Wild Rivers Area
The Bush Administration has opened 800,000 acres of National Forest and BLM land in the Siskiyou Wild Rivers area to prospecting and new mining claims.
On May 22, 2002 the Bush Administration published a ruling that ended protection of the vast majority of the Siskiyou Wild Rivers from mining. "It's the latest installment in the Bush administration's program to cut, drill, dig, stomp and chomp our public lands," Siskiyou Project Board Member Dave Willis told the news media. "This is an attack on some of the best wild salmon and steelhead habitat in the lower 48 and one of the most botanically diverse coniferous forests in North America."
Secretary Babbitt started the process to protect the Siskiyou Wild Rivers. In January 2001, then Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt started a public process to consider what kind of protections were needed for the pristine rivers and rare plants of the Siskiyou Wild Rivers Area. In order to protect the land while these protections were being considered, Secretary Babbitt temporarily withdrew nearly 1 million acres of public land in Southwest Oregon from operation under the 1872 Mining Law.
Gale Norton and Dale Bosworth Yanked the Process Away The January 2001 Federal Register Notice stated that the "purpose of the proposed mineral withdrawal is to protect the nationally significant ecologic and biologic diversity of the Siskiyou Wild Rivers area … while it is determined whether special management designation of the area is warranted." But now the Bush Administration has slammed the door on this public process to discuss the future of the Siskiyou Wild Rivers. The study of mining economics, mineral potential and ecological values was never begun. The Bush Administration ignored the request of Governor John Kitzhaber, Senator Ron Wyden and Representatives Peter DeFazio, David Wu, Earl Blumenauer and Darlene Hooley to let the public process on the proposed one million acre mineral withdrawal continue. Editorial support for an open public discussion on the future of mining in the area, in both local and major Oregon newspapers, also fell on deaf ears. Dozens of fishing and environmental organizations supported the process along with thousands of individual citizens.
The Bush Administration apparently did listen to Oregon's Republican Senator Gordon Smith who did not support the mineral withdrawal and public process and wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton asking her to "review" it.
They Did Leave Us Something,
But We'll
Have to Fight to Keep It
But even the Bush Administration had to admit that
the fishery and botanical values of the Siskiyou Wild Rivers deserved some
consideration. At the same time that they ended protection from mining for
800,000 acres, they left 113,000 acres under the mineral withdrawal.
Unfortunately, these 113,000 acres do not include the entire proposed Nicore
mine in Rough & Ready Creek or some of the most important salmon spawning
streams. You can be sure though, that the mining industry will make a concerted
effort to drop even the 113,000 acres from mineral withdrawal. These acres do
include some of the critical salmon streams and botanical areas and are worth
fighting for.
Please take the time to send a free fax
to each of the politicians and acting forest supervisor above from our website
auto-fax feature at www.siskiyourivers.org/action.
OR
Please write or phone:
Tom
Reilly
Acting Forest Supervisor
Siskiyou National Forest
Box 520
Medford, Oregon 97501
541-858-2200
treilly@fs.fed.us
Senator Ron Wyden
700 NE Multnomah
Suite 450
Portland, Oregon 97232
Phone: 503-326-7525 or
541-858-5122
Congressman Peter De Fazio,
151 W.
Seventh St., #400
Eugene, Oregon 97401-2649
Phone:1-800-944-9603
Senator Gordon Smith
121 SW Salmon
Suite 1250
Portland, OR 97204
(503) 326-3386
TAKE ACTION! SEND A FAX - WWW.PROTECTWILDALASKA.ORG. STILL
2 DAYS LEFT TO CALL ON THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO PROTECT WILDERNESS IN THE
TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST!
“President Bush has the
opportunity to safeguard the world's last great temperate
rainforest. In my opinion, and that of tens of thousands of
Americans, the forest service's current proposal does not go far enough to
protect this rainforest. We need new safeguards. We can't afford to lose this
one-of-a-kind natural treasure. I'm optimistic that President Bush will do the
right thing and protect the Tongass.”
Theodore Roosevelt, IV
August
7, 2002 – On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of President Roosevelt
setting aside the land that is now the Tongass National Forest.
*****
Tens of thousands of Americans have already called on the Bush
Administration to protect wilderness in the Tongass National Forest. With only 1
month down of a 3-month public comment period on the draft Tongass Wilderness
Plan, the Forest Service is only just beginning to hear from people across the
United States who care about protecting the rainforest.
Don’t forget -
the Forest Service has chosen a “no action” alternative as their preferred
option which means they would recommend no new wilderness. In other words, they
believe that not 1 of the 9,000,000 acres of roadless forest they reviewed for
the plan are worthy of permanent protection.
Let them know you disagree!
Click on the Alaska Rainforest Campaign Take Action site (http://www.akrain.org/action/faxes/actionpage.asp)
and send an official comment to the Forest Service. Ask them to adopt the Alaska
Rainforest Conservation Wilderness proposal – Alternative #6. If you have
already commented, then spread the word – share this information and link with
your friends, family and colleagues.
*****
For
more information contact: Laurie Cooper, Forest Outreach Director, Alaska
Coalition, laurie@alaskacoalition.org
 |
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The Future of Our Oceans is at
Stake!!
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Dear Members of Global Response's "Quick Response Network:"
In the Aisen region of southern Chile, the sparse human population is
dwarfed by spectacular terrain and ancient forests. They want it to stay
that way, but they're having to fight for it. Offered
"development" in the
form of a $2.7 billion Canadian aluminum processing
plant, they say "No,
gracias."
Aisen citizens have organized a
strong national Alliance to protect Aisen's
"Reserve of Life" and stop the
aluminum project. Alliance coordinator
Rodrigo Herrera says what they need
most is INTERNATIONAL pressure.
They deserve it! Please add your voice
to theirs, urging Chile's president
to reject destructive multinational
"development" and to support local
efforts toward sustainable development
instead.
-Paula Palmer
************************************************
GLOBAL RESPONSE
ACTION #5/02
DESTRUCTIVE VS. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT / CHILE
August-September 2002
************************************************
“Most of the benefits of the Alumysa project will go to a foreign
company,
but the costs will be borne by the Aisen region. These
costs are the
destruction of precious resources (pure water, flora and
fauna, valuable
landscape, potential for ecotourism), air and water
pollution, and storage
of all the toxic wastes in the region. It will damage
one of the most
pristine environments and best air and water quality on the
planet."
-- Aisen “Reserve of Life” Alliance
In the
Aisen region of Central Patagonia, the people still drink pure water
out of
streams that tumble through pristine temperate rainforests and spill
into
scenic fjords. Ninety percent of forest plants and animals here are
endemic; they exists nowhere else on the planet. The huemul, an
endemic
deer that appears with the condor on the Chilean national shield,
survives
here, though in most of Chile it is remembered only as a legend.
Settled by fishermen and small ranchers and farmers only during the last
century, Aisen’s human population of 100,000 has declared the region a
“Reserve of Life,” and pledged to pursue development that is “just,
sustainable and equitable.” Now they’re pitted against one of Canada’s most
powerful mining companies, Noranda, Inc, who picked Aisen as the site for a
huge aluminum smelter. If Noranda wins government approval, its Alumysa
plant in Aisen will be the biggest private investment in Chile’s history –
US$2.7 billion.
The Alumysa project is textbook globalization. Aisen
has no raw materials
for aluminum production (they will be shipped at some
risk into Aisen’s
dangerous fjord waters from Jamaica, Brazil and
Australia). Nor does Chile
need aluminum (it will be exported to
the US and Japan). Noranda wants to
build at Aisen because by
damming three watersheds it can get electricity
cheap. Smelting
consumes huge amounts of energy, earning aluminum the
nickname “congealed
electricity.” Cheap electricity, cheap labor, and
relatively lax
environmental regulations all spell maximum profits for
Noranda.
But
what are the costs to Aisen? The Aisen “Reserve of Life” Alliance
lists these unacceptable environmental, social and economic impacts:
* Noranda plans to build three large
hydroelectric dams that will
submerge 24,000 acres of pristine forests,
natural lakes and wetlands. The
Aisen
“Reserve of Life”
Alliance has filed a lawsuit charging that the destruction
of natural
resources and beauty means irreparable economic losses for the
community.
* To produce 440,000 tonnes of aluminum per
year, the Alumysa plant will
generate an estimated 660,000 tonnes of waste
each year, loaded with
fluorides, alumina, cyanide, sodium, arsenic, heavy
metals, used oils,
industrial solvents and coolants, etc. Alumysa does not
have an adequate
storage and treatment plan for all this waste. In a region
that gets 3000 mm
(120 inches) of rain each year, leakage into ground water
and streams is
inevitable. Water contamination threatens human health and
terrestrial and
marine flora and fauna.
* Alumysa will pollute the air with massive and
continuous emissions of
toxic gases including particulate fluorides and
particulate organic matter
which are highly carcinogenic, greenhouse gases,
ozone destroying gases,
sulphurous gases that produce acid rain, carbon
monoxide and others.
* Of the projected US $470
million added value that the project will
generate, only $30 million will
stay in the region of Aisen. The project
will bring 8,000 workers
to the region during the construction phase, but
only 1,000 will be employed
during operations, and only 10 percent of these
will be local people.
Citizens of Aisen are convinced that Alumysa will open the door to
further
destructive industrialization by multinational corporations,
crushing their
vision for a sustainable local economy. Their
impressive local, regional
and national anti-Alumysa alliance is reaching
out for international
support.
***********************
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
***********************
NORANDA, INC.
– Noranda has a history of supporting Chile’s military
dictatorship and a track record of environmental and social criminality. Its
environmental violations in the United States alone have cost the company
almost $2 million in fines. In Canada it ranks #2 in smelter emissions of
heavy metal poisons. Noranda worked with the Chilean government to minimize
public participation in Alumysa’s review process, giving the public only 60
days to comment on its mammoth Environmental Impact Study that filled 24
books (sources: Rainforest Action Network and Canadian Environmental Defense
Fund). Alumysa’s website:
http://my.noranda.com/Noranda/Corporate/Our+Businesses/Project+Development/A
lumysa.htm.
THE CONSUMER CONNECTION – Few processes are
as damaging to the environment
and the global climate as aluminum
smelting. Consumers can decrease the
demand for aluminum by
recycling. Recycling saves at least 75% of the
energy used to
make aluminum from bauxite ore, and reduces air and water
pollution by 95% –
very significant savings. Yet Americans throw away enough
aluminum to
rebuild the US’s entire commercial fleet of airplanes every
three months
(source: Environmental Defense). There’s nothing easier than
recycling aluminum cans, but fewer than half of the aluminum cans sold in
the U.S. are recycled. The 50.7 billion cans thrown away in 2001
wasted 16
million barrels of crude oil, enough energy to supply 2.7 million
American
homes with electricity for a year (source: Container Recycling
Institute).
Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to operate a TV
for 3 hours
(source: Ecocycle). Before you drink your next soda, be sure to
read John C.
Ryan’s “Secret Life of a Cola” at www.okaee.org/uls/cola.html, which
traces
the “ecological wake” of canned cola.
*****************
REQUESTED ACTION
*****************
Please send a polite letter
to the president of Chile, with a copy to the
minister of the presidency
(who reviews the Alumysa Environmental Impact
Study).
* Tell them the pristine Aisen wilderness is a
natural treasure of global
importance, which merits protection.
* Express your admiration and support for Aisen
citizens who have
declared the region a “Reserve of Life” and pledged to
pursue development
that is “just, sustainable and equitable.”
* Urge the president to reject Noranda’s proposed
Alumysa project because
it would destroy Aisen’s natural and economic value
and potential for
ecotourism and sustainable development. Emphasize that the
president has an
opportunity to choose between sustainable development that
will benefit the
Chilean people, and destructive development that will
benefit a foreign
company at Chile’s expense.
**********
ADDRESSES
**********
Sr. Ricardo Lagos Escobar
Presidente de
la Republica
Palacio de la Moneda s/n
Santiago de Chile
FAX: Int’l
code+56-2-699-2165
Email from website: www.presidencia.cl
Sr. Mario
Fernandez Baeza, Ministro
Ministerio Secretaria General de la Presidencia
Palacio de la Moneda s/n
Santiago de Chile
FAX: Int’l
code+56-2-690-4329
Email: mfernandez@minsegpres.cl
NOTE: A mailed letter will have greatest impact. Postage from the U.S.
is 80
cents. Please also support this campaign with a donation to Global
Response.
This Global Response Action was issued at the request of and
with
information provided by the Aisen “Reserve of Life” Alliance
(www.noalumysa.cl/), Native Forest Network
(www/nativeforest.org) and
Rainforest Action Network (www.ran.org). For information on
aluminum
processing, see www.okaee.org/uls/cola.html and www.aluminium.org/. For
recycling see
www.container-recyclying.org/.
Special thanks to George
Blevins, Erin King, Gary Hughes and Rodrigo
Herrera.
********************************
Paula Palmer, Executive
Director
Global Response
P.O. Box 7490
Boulder CO 80306
USA
TEL: 303-444-0306
FAX: 303-449-9794
Email: paula@globalresponse.org
Website:
www.globalresponse.org
Global Response empowers people of all ages, cultures, and nationalities
to
protect the environment by creating partnerships for effective citizen
action. At the request of indigenous peoples and grassroots
organizations,
Global Response organizes international letter-writing
campaigns to help
communities prevent environmental
destruction. Global Response involves
young people as well as
adults in these campaigns, to develop in them the
skills for global citizen
cooperation and earth stewardship.
Act Now:
