As the new home of ConnPIRG's environmental work, Environment Connecticut can be contacted regarding this news release.
New Haven—ConnPIRG,
Sierra Club, and local activists from the greater New Haven area revved up a
"21 Chainsaw Salute" outside the U.S. Forest Service Northeastern
Research Station in Hamden today to protest the Bush administration’s proposals
to destroy America’s last pristine national forests.
"It is clear that the
Bush administration wants to see our national forests teeming with chainsaws
and bulldozers instead of wildlife and old-growth trees," said Sylvia Broude,
campaign coordinator for ConnPIRG.
Following Broude’s
statement, seven volunteers lined up in formation, pointed their chainsaws to
the sky, and awaited a signal from a "Commander of Chainsaws," who
shouted "Timber!" as a signal for the activists to fire up their chainsaws
three times in the direction of Hamden’s U.S. Forest Service Northeastern
Research Station.
The salute came in response
to the Bush administration’s recently announced plans to gut the widely
popular Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects 58.5 million acres of
pristine national forests from most logging and road-building. The administration’s
proposal would exempt Alaska’s Tongass Rainforest—America’s largest
national forest—from the roadless rule and would allow state governors
to seek exemptions for forests in their states, giving governors decision-making
power over natural treasures owned by all Americans.
"The Bush administration’s
timber industry give-away is an affront to the American people," said Broude.
"A record 2.2 million people from every state across America have expressed
support for the roadless rule; it’s outrageous that the administration
is willing to allow corporate special interest to destroy America’s publicly
owned national forests."
Enacted in January 2001,
the roadless rule protects the last third of America’s national forest
while allowing new road construction in order to fight fires, ensure public
safety, and allow brush clearing to protect forest health. The roadless rule
ensures that forests will continue to provide clean drinking water, habitat
for wildlife, and endless opportunities for recreation and solitude. ConnPIRG
called on the Bush administration to abandon its proposal and enforce the Roadless
Area Conservation Rule of 2001 without any changes.
ConnPIRG also called on
the Bush administration to abandon its other attacks on national forests including
its so-called Healthy Forests Initiative and its proposed regulations for the
National Forest Management Act.
"The Bush Administration’s
so-called Healthy Forests Initiative and the proposed gutting of the National
Forest Management Act are bait and switch scams on the American public,"
said Broude. "Instead of ensuring protection for communities at risk from
forest fires by prioritizing fuel reduction directly around communities, their
proposals would give the timber industry unfettered access to our last wild
forests."
ConnPIRG called on the Bush
administration to ensure that federal agencies use the best scientific data
and require that the necessary resources go to states and communities for real
fuel reduction projects. Forest Service fire researchers have shown that prioritizing
fuel reduction directly around communities is the best way to protect them from
fires.
"It’s time for
the Bush Administration to stop catering to corporate special interests and
start respecting the public interest," said Broude. "It’s time
for the Bush administration to abandon wrongheaded logging proposals that weaken
environmental protections and cut the public out of the process. It’s time
for the Bush administration to protect America’s last wild forests for
future generations," concluded Broude.
