Sacred Sites - Bear Butte

From: Kent Lebsock iamkent@verizon.net
6 May 6, 2006

Bear Butte

We are attaching information from our Lakota people concerning one of themost sacred places in North America; Bear Butte.

Currently, non-Indigenous forces are acting to institute motorcycle bars at the foot of this sacred mountain and, as always, our people are leading the struggle to defend the Earth. The attached article is from Debra White Plume and there are photos of a recent rally on the issues. This summer the people will occupy the mountain beginning July 4th. Please feel free to contact either myself or Debra White Plume for more information or to suggest possible funding sources. Also, please feel free to distribute this information as widely as possible. We look forward to the participation of as many peoples and nations as possible.

Kent Lebsock
American Indian Law Alliance
212-477-9100 Voice Ph
212-477-0004 Fax Ph
kent@ailanyc.org www.ailanyc.org

Debra White Plume
Owe Aku, Bring Back the Way
Manderson, SD 57756-0325
605-455-2155 Voice Ph
605-455-1287 Fax Ph
lakota1@gwtc.net
www.bringbacktheway.com

Greetings Friends and Allies: There are four attachments, three photos from the 4 April 2006 Protect Bear Butte Rally and an article about the whole "issue". Please circulate as you see fit. The Meade County Commissioners approved another liquor license application on 2 MAY 2006 for a $500,000. fee.(yes, that is half a million dollars). There is another liquor license hearing coming up in June. This is a call for solidarity from the Intertribal Coalition to Defend Bear Butte to help us continue our struggle to Defend Bear Butte. We have a tax exempt fiscal agent. We are accepting donations of funds, tents, food, camping gear to help us prepare for upcoming Direct Actions and the Gathering of Nations to open on July 4, 2006. We will Take A Stand. Please stand with us.

Sincerely,

Debra White Plume

They Don’t Want Indians Praying at Bear Butte 24 April 2006
by Debra White Plume, Bring Back the Way, writing from the banks of Wounded Knee Creek
.doc or .pdf format

Clink on any photo to enlarge

Environment: Mining - Gold

February 14, 2006
http://www.elkodaily.com/articles/2006/02/14/news/local_news/news3.txt

Gold loses price shine

ELKO - Gold prices are in the $540 range per ounce on Valentine's Day, after reaching new 25-year heights of $572.15 per ounce earlier this month but slipping the past few days.

The London late price today was $543.50, off $1.10, while the London afternoon fixing price was $539.70, off $4.10. The spot price on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $11.20 Monday to $539.

The London afternoon fixing price is the lowest since Jan. 9.

The price fell on the strength of the U.S. dollar Monday, according to news reports, but MarketWatch reported prices on futures contracts were going up today.

Shares in most gold producers also were up today, with Newmont Mining Corp. shares at $54.59, up 50 cents, and Barrick Gold Corp. shares at $28.50, up 43 cents, and Meridian Gold shares at $23.41, up 52 cents.

Kinross Gold shares were at $9.84, up 29 cents and Glamis Gold shares were at $27.98, up 43 cents.

Glamis President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin McArthur said in a teleconference Monday on Glamis earnings that Glamis shares were the top performing stock among the precious metals mining companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005.

Also on Valentine's Day, the No Dirty Gold campaign is praising eight jewelry retailers for urging mining corporations to produce gold in socially and environmentally responsible ways.

The No Dirty Gold environmental campaign bought a full-page ad in The New York Times, according to an announcement from Earthworks and Oxfam America.

Carrie Dann of the Western Shoshone Defense Project in Nevada is one of those quoted in the update on the No Dirty Gold campaign that targets jewelry sellers.

"For too long, the people who are buying and selling gold have been blind to mining's impacts on the water, the air, the land and communities like the Western Shoshone," she said.

"But today, some of the leading jewelry retailers are recognizing that they have a responsibility not only to their customers but also to communities affected by gold mining," Dann said.

Carol Raulston of the National Mining Association said today she believes the No Dirty Gold campaign is "really not worth our comment. U.S. mine practices are in conformance with what the jewelers set up."

The companies recognized for Valentine's Day included Zale Corp., the Signet Group, Tiffany & Co., Helzberg Diamonds, Fortunoff, Cartier, Piaget and Van Cleef & Arpels.

"Because jewelry retailers buy the majority of gold produced worldwide, they have the power to help clean up the mining industry," said Payal Sampat, co-director of the No Dirty Gold campaign and international campaign director for Earthworks.

Environment: Mining - Gold

February 14, 2006

San Francisco Peaks

February 15, 2006

Native Youth Media Coalition- Press Release

New Voices Emerging

" If you desecrate and destroy the Peaks, you're doing away with a way of life. When is that going to be understood? That's killing Native American Nations. That's killing us."

-Joe Shirley Jr. Navajo Nation President

The San Francisco Peaks are sacred to more than 13 Indigenous Nations. They are located just outside of Flagstaff, Arizona. Presently, a Ski Resort called Arizona Snowbowl is disrespectfully located on the Peaks. There is an on-going battle to stop the Arizona Snowbowl from expanding its resort. Arizona Snowbowl plans on desecrating the Peaks using reclaimed waste-water to make artificial "snow" on this Holy and Sacred Mountain. Not only is it a powerful spiritual place, it is also the home to more than 200 species of mammals and birds that are dependant on the regions unique environment. The Youth of the Peaks are standing up for the preservation of this mountain.

The Youth of the Peaks was formed in the spring of 2005. Since their birth they have respectfully built a strong movement of Indigenous Youth to stand up and protect the sacred San Francisco Peaks against the destruction by Arizona Snowbowl and the City of Flagstaff. The Youth of the Peaks made a callout to Elders and Young people from all over Arizona to come to the New Voices Emerging Summit held in Flagstaff, February 10-12th. The Youth of the Peaks organized the summit to bring Youth and Elders together for two days to build alliances, dialogue, plan and strategize around the issue of protecting the Peaks.

Over 70 youth attended the summit. There was a beautiful presence of youth groups supporting the struggle, such as, T.R.U.T.H.F.U.L. from Hopi, The Indigenous Youth Alliance (IYA) from Gila River/Phoenix, the Native Youth Media Coalition, E.C.H.O.E.S from Flagstaff, and the Native Movement Collective. By the end of the Summit, strong alliances were created amongst the youth who now felt as family. Leaving back to their own communities the youth did not say good-bye, rather they said, "we will stop the snowbowl! ". The weaving of their collective strength has begun and their determination continues.

"This is what it takes to talk to the earth, so that it can understand you. These ways are being forgotten, that's why were where we are. And in some cases, they are not forgotten, but they are being forced to not be practiced. This is what they are doing to you, by denying you this sacred sight. We don't need to tell no white man in a black gown that this is our sacred sight.we don't' "

-Dine Elder

"Us as youth we have concerns too, especially as Indigenous Youth, who hold these peak's sacred. The people need to know that it's not just the Elders, the Medicine men, and the older ones who are concerned about this mountain, its also us youth." - Youth of the Peaks

" We need to help the future generations that are to come. What our future people are going to be like depends on what we as people are going to be, what we are going to do. I'm here for my people, I'm here for all people." -Young woman from T.R.U.T.H.F.U.L.

" The Youth of the Peaks and other organizations here at the summit really have a long-term vision, not just in terms of a plan. but really what we are engaged in is a process of building hope... of cultivating hope..." - Youth of the Peaks

Get involved in the struggle to protect the San Francisco Peaks!

Stop Snowbowl!

For more information on the ongoing battle to protect the San Francisco Peaks: www.savethepeaks.org

For more information on Youth of the Peaks: www.savethepeaks.org/youth

(Bushmen) First People of the Kalahari : Botswana

Dec. 9, 2005 Message from Roy Sesana, Gana Bushman and recent Right Livelihood Award recipient (Alternative Nobel Prize)

*Roy Sesana, the Alternative Nobel Prize winner, speaks*

Right Livelihood Award address, Stockholm, 9. December 2005

My name is Roy Sesana; I am a Gana Bushman from the Kalahari in what is now called Botswana. In my language, my name is 'Tobee' and our land is 'T//amm'. We have been there longer than any people has been anywhere.

When I was young, I went to work in a mine. I put off my skins and wore clothes. But I went home after a while. Does that make me less Bushman? I don't think so.

I am a leader. When I was a boy we did not need leaders and we lived well. Now we need them because our land is being stolen and we must struggle to survive. It doesn't mean I tell people what to do, it's the other way around: they tell me what I have to do to help them.

I cannot read. You wanted me to write this speech, so my friends helped, but I cannot read words - I'm sorry! But I do know how to read the land and the animals. All our children could. If they didn't, they would have all died long ago.

I know many who can read words and many, like me, who can only read the land. Both are important. We are not backward or less intelligent: we live in exactly the same up-to-date year as you. I was going to say we all live under the same stars, but no, they're different, and there are many more in the Kalahari. The sun and moon are the same.

I grew up a hunter. All our boys and men were hunters. Hunting is going and talking to the animals. You don't steal. You go and ask. You set a trap or go with bow or spear. It can take days. You track the antelope. He knows you are there, he knows he has to give you his strength. But he runs and you have to run. As you run, you become like him. It can last hours and exhaust you both. You talk to him and look into his eyes. And then he knows he must give you his strength so your children can live.

When I first hunted, I was not allowed to eat. Pieces of the steenbok were burnt with some roots and spread on my body. This is how I learned. It's not the same way you learn, but it works well.

The farmer says he is more advanced than the backward hunter, but I don't believe him. His herds give no more food than ours. The antelope are not our slaves, they do not wear bells on their necks and they can run faster than the lazy cow or the herder. We run through life together.

When I wear the antelope horns, it helps me talk to my ancestors and they help me. The ancestors are so important: we would not be alive without them. Everyone knows this in their heart, but some have forgotten. Would any of us be here without our ancestors? I don't think so.

I was trained as a healer. You have to read the plants and the sand. You have to dig the roots and become fit. You put some of the root back for tomorrow, so one day your grandchildren can find it and eat. You learn
what the land tells you.

When the old die, we bury them and they become ancestors. When there is sickness, we dance and we talk to them; they speak through my blood. I touch the sick person and can find the illness and heal it.

We are the ancestors of our grandchildren's children. We look after them, just as our ancestors look after us. We aren't here for ourselves. We are here for each other and for the children of our grandchildren.

Why am I here? Because my people love their land, and without it we are dying. Many years ago, the president of Botswana said we could live on our ancestral land forever. We never needed anyone to tell us that. Of
course we can live where God created us! But the next president said we must move and began forcing us away.

They said we had to go because of diamonds. Then they said we were killing too many animals: but that's not true. They say many things which aren't true. They said we had to move so the government could develop us. The president says unless we change we will perish like the dodo. I didn't know what a dodo was. But I found out: it was a bird which was wiped out by settlers. The president was right. They are killing us by forcing us off our land. We have been tortured and shot at. They arrested me and beat me.

Thank you for the Right Livelihood Award. It is global recognition of our struggle and will raise our voice throughout the world. When I heard I had won I had just been let out of prison. They say I am a criminal, as I stand here today.

I say what kind of development is it when the people live shorter lives than before? They catch HIV/AIDS. Our children are beaten in school and won't go there. Some become prostitutes. They are not allowed to hunt.
They fight because they are bored and get drunk. They are starting to commit suicide. We never saw that before. It hurts to say this. Is this 'development'?

We are not primitive. We live differently to you, but we do not live exactly like our grandparents did, nor do you. Were your ancestors 'primitive'? I don't think so. We respect our ancestors. We love our children. This is the same for all people.

We now have to stop the government stealing our land: without it we will die.

If anyone has read a lot of books and thinks I am primitive because I have not read even one, then he should throw away those books and get one which says we are all brothers and sisters under God and we too have
a right to live.

That is all. Thank you.

Roy Sesana
First People of the Kalahari, Botswana

see: http://www.khoisanpeoples.org

Wacam : Ghana

STATEMENT OF WACAM ON THE DISPOSAL OF FAECAL MATTER INTO COMMUNITY STREAMS BY NEWMONT GHANA GOLD LIMITED

WACAM received complaints from community people concerning the disposal of faecal matter from the sewerage of Newmont Ahafo Mine in Kenyase area into community streams.

Our investigations have confirmed that Newmont had been disposing faecal matter from the sewerage of its mine camp in Kenyase through pipes and a gutter which flows into a small pond created from River Asuopre. The water in the pond which is contaminated is then directed through a hidden pipe into the main River Asuopre which happens to be the only source of drinking water for most communities. The faecal sludge disposed into the pond has a bad stench and Newmont has put up caution signpost that the faecal sludge is contaminated thus confirming the pollution of the pond which is discharged into River Asuopre.

Unknown to the communities that the there was faecal disposal into the stream, communities like Kwakyekrom and farmers from Ntotroso and Kenyase who farm around the area continued to drink from River Asuopre .  River Asuopre flows into river Tano which is treated downstream and distributed to a number of big towns like Hwidiem and Acherensua.

The revelation of the disposal of faecal matter into River Asuopre though shocking, we are aware that Newmont continues to dispose mine waste through pipes into the sea in its operations in Indonesia despite persistent complaints against the disposal of mine waste into the sea popularly known as Submarine Tailings Disposal. In defence of its disposal of mine waste into the sea in Indonesia, Mr Wayne Murdy, the Chief Executive Officer of Newmont responded to the query on the company’s disposal of mine waste into the ocean in Indonesia at the Annual Shareholders meeting in Denver in April 2005 by saying that when gold is extracted from the soil, what remained was sand, inferring that mine waste could be disposed anywhere.

Although WACAM believes that Newmont has a bad policy on its mine waste disposal in other parts of the world, disposal of faecal matter into community streams is sacrilegious and an act which degrades the dignity of the people whose only crime is that they happen to live in areas of gold deposits which Newmont is extracting for profit.

The disposal of faecal matter into the community streams could be likened to a biological warfare against unsuspecting poor communities living on their indigenous lands. For WACAM, the reason for the disposal of faecal matter into community stream is not because Newmont wants to reduce the cost of its operations, neither is it accidental nor ignorance. A study of how the disposal facility was established convinces WACAM that it was a deliberate act to establish a ground situation of polluted streams before Newmont formally commences its operations in 2006. For example, when Goldfields Ghana Limited spilled cyanide into River Asuman in October 2001, Mr Richard Graeme who was then the Managing Director of the company attempted to create the impression through an advertisement that the cyanide pollution was not as serious as the faecal pollution of River Asuman and the impression was that the community people had polluted their own drinking stream with faecal matter. There have been similar experiences of faecal matter disposal into community streams by some mining companies operating in the Wassa West District in the past and the companies tried to blame mining communities for the pollution.

Community people have a spiritual relationship and special attachment to their drinking streams and it is unthinkable for community people to pollute their own drinking streams with faecal matter.

Newmont paid $700,000 to the Colorado University in USA to conduct community health assessment in their concessions in Ghana and Peru.. The report indicated a stress on community water due to influx of people to Kenyase to seek employment in the Newmont Ahafo mine. By polluting community streams with faecal matter, Newmont is worsening the water stress situation and also creating public health problems for the people in the area.

We condemn the unethical and irresponsible mining practice of disposing faecal matter from sewerage of Newmont into community streams. Though community people have informed us of the desperate attempts of Newmont to cover up all incriminating evidence of this disgraceful act , there is enough evidence to prove the deliberate disposal of faecal matter from the sewerage of the mine into River Asuopre.

WACAM calls on Parliament to see this as a challenge and use the opportunity created by the review of the mining law to enact laws that would protect the environment and mining communities from such irresponsible behaviours of some mining companies.

WACAM is calling on the Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to institute independent investigations into Newmont’s disposal of faecal matter into River Asuopre.

Daniel Owusu-Koranteng

(Executive Director of WACAM)

Dated 6th December 2005

Cuddalore, India

Dear friends,

Please join me in signing your organization on to the attached letter(and copied below) supporting community members fighting a proposed PVC plant in Cuddalore, India. Please respond by 2:00pm (EST) December 2nd if your organization can sign on to the attached letter.

Community members need our help to stop this facility, which was recently approved by an "expert" environmental committee. The proposed PVC plant would be located near community residents who are already overburdened with major chemical plants. The Tamilnadu State Human Rights Commission has declared that public health in the area "cannot take more burden than that which has already ensued by the existing chemical industries." Make no mistake about it, residents are fighting for their health and livelihoods, and already complain of noxious odors and health problems from the chemical industry. Parents are concerned their children are suffering from physical, mental and sexual development problems. To learn more, log onto www.sipcotcuddalore.com

Similar PVC facilities across the globe have poisoned workers and fenceline neighbors, polluted the air, contaminated drinking water supplies, and even wiped entire communities off the map. For more information about the hazards of PVC, log onto www.besafenet.com/pvc.htm and www.pvcinformation.org

Please circulate this sign on letter far and wide, sign on to the letter, and support this critical fight for environmental health and justice. Please respond by 2:00pm (EST) December 2nd if your organization can sign on to the attached letter.

Sincerely,

Mike Schade
PVC Campaign Coordinator
Center for Health, Environment and Justice

Center for Health, Environment and Justic. AID-Austin . Alaska Community Action on Toxics . Calhoun County Resource Watch . California Communities Against Toxics . Center for Environmental Health . Clean Water Action . Department of the Planet Earth . Ecology Center . EAGLE (Environmental Association for Great Lakes Education) . Environmental Community Action . Environmental Health Fund . Green Delaware .

Greenpeace . Healthy Building Network . Learning Disabilities Association of Oregon . Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation . Organic Consumers Association (USA). Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility . Oregon Toxics Alliance Pesticide Action Network in Mexico (RAPAM) . Physicians for Social Responsibility - Louisiana . Protect All Children's Environment . Taiwan Watch Institute . Toxics Action Center . Women's Voices for the Earth .

Mr. A Raja,
Minister of Environment & Forests
R No. 423, Paryavaran Bhavan
CGO Complex
Lodi Road, New Delhi 110 003
November 29, 2005

Dear Mr. Raja:

We are writing to strongly urge you to reject the proposed Chemplast PVC facility in SIPCOT Cuddalore. We understand this is a VCM-PVC unit and not an integrated unit, however even the best-designed PVC facilities pose irreversible health and environmental threats to surrounding communities.

An array of poisonous chemicals such as vinyl chloride, ethylene dichloride, and dioxins are used and/or inadvertently produced during the manufacture of PVC. Vinyl chloride is a known human carcinogen that affects the central nervous system and damages the liver. Besides cancer, workers and residents alike are vulnerable to a range of ailments associated with vinyl chloride exposure, including damage to the liver, lungs, blood, nervous system, immune system, cardiovascular system, skin, bones and reproductive system. There appears to be no safe level of exposure to vinyl chloride, as it is considered to be "genotoxic" meaning it causes irreversible damage to DNA. Any exposure increases the risk of developing cancer, a birth defect or a genetic disorder.

PVC manufacturing facilities have poisoned workers and fenceline neighbors, polluted the air, contaminated drinking water supplies, and even wiped entire neighborhoods off the map. Consider some of the following brief examples of these very real threats:

Air pollution:
• In Mossville, Louisiana, air monitoring conducted by the US Environmental Protection Agency in 1999 showed vinyl manufacturing facilities emitted concentrations of vinyl chloride more than 120 times higher than the ambient air standard.
• In Delaware City, Delaware, air-monitoring has revealed high concentrations of vinyl chloride near a PVC manufacturing facility, which is under close state and federal scrutiny for pollution violations.

Water pollution:

• An air sample taken above Chemplast's effluent outfall into the River Kaveri in Mettur revealed the presence of high levels of cancer-causing chemicals like chloroform, vinyl chloride and ethylene dichloride -- some of which were well above guidelines or standards. This facility has been accused of polluting hundreds of wells and thousands of acres of agricultural land in Mettur, and has been caught discharging highly poisonous effluents into the River Kaveri upstream of TWAD Board's drinking water intake wells.
• In Lake Charles, Louisiana, a jury found one of the United States' leading PVC manufacturers liable for "wanton and reckless disregard of public safety", caused by one of the largest chemical spills in the nation's history which contaminated the groundwater underneath the surrounding community.
• In Pennsylvania, the federal government is working to clean up highly contaminated groundwater and contaminated lagoons at an OxyChem PVC plant.
• In Texas, vinyl chloride has been discovered in wells nearby a PVC plant, which was forced to spend one million dollars cleaning up the contaminated groundwater. This same company was fined in 1991 for over $3 million (U.S.) for hazardous waste violations related to the groundwater contamination.

Harm to Workers:
• Studies have documented links between working in vinyl chloride production facilities and the increased likelihood of developing diseases including angiosarcoma of the liver, a rare form of liver cancer, brain cancer, lung cancer, lymphomas, leukemia, and liver cirrhosis.
• On April 23, 2004, a PVC plant in Illinois exploded, sending a plume of toxic smoke for miles around surrounding communities. Five workers were killed, four towns were evacuated, several highways closed, a no-fly zone declared, and three hundred firefighters from twenty-seven surrounding communities battled the flames for three days.
• An explosion at the Formosa Plastics Corporation plant in Point Comfort Texas in December 1998 injured 26 workers and rattled windows 35 miles away.
• These explosions at PVC plants are of great concern, especially in light of the close proximity of the proposed Chemplast plant to Palldian Chemicals, a manufacturer of highly explosive rocket fuel, which together may pose a Bhopal-like hazard to area residents.

PVC Fenceline Communities Wiped Off the Map
• In 2003, in Plaquemine, Louisiana, a trailer park development was relocated after being contaminated by vinyl chloride groundwater contamination, but only after women suffered from an abnormal number of miscarriages in the tainted area.
• Reveilletown, Louisiana, was once a small African-American town adjacent to an EDC/VCM facility owned by Georgia-Gulf. In the 1980s, after a plume of vinyl chloride in groundwater began to seep under homes in the area, Georgia-Gulf agreed to permanently evacuate the entire community of one hundred and six residents. Reveilletown has since been demolished.

Residents living near the SIPCOT industrial area are already overburdened by polluting facilities and can not afford to face such risks. The Tamilnadu State Human Rights Commission declared public health in the SIPCOT industrial estate "cannot take more burden than that which has already ensued by the existing chemical industries." Additionally, the local government (Panchayat) and the Panchayat Union have resolved against setting up polluting factories in SIPCOT. A legislative assembly member from your own party has written to you requesting the proposal be shelved. Residents living in and around the SIPCOT chemical industrial estate have already complained of intense chemical odors and health disorders which may be linked to the pollution. Residents believe there are high rates of morbidity among the region's children, who may be suffering from physical, mental and sexual development deficits. The SIPCOT Area Community Environmental Monitors (SACEM) have documented the presence of numerous cancer-causing chemicals in the air near SIPCOT due to current industrial operations.

Recognizing the myriad of environmental health threats posed by the PVC lifecycle, numerous governments and companies have already enacted PVC restrictions or have policies to eliminate PVC. These companies include Wal-Mart, Nike, Honda, Proctor and Gamble, Toyota, Microsoft, Apple, and Sony.

Given the significant environmental and health threats posed by the Chemplast PVC plant, we strongly urge you to reject the proposed facility. As organizations deeply concerned about and following this proposal from around the world, we look forward to and await your prompt response.

Sincerely,

Lois Gibbs Executive Director Center for Health, Environment and Justice P.O. Box 6806 Falls Church, VA 22046 Michael Schade Campaign Coordinator Center for Health, Environment and Justice BE SAFE 9 Murray Street, Suite 300 New York, NY 10007-2223 Devashree Saha AID-Austin SOC # 108 100-C West Dean Keaton Austin TX 78712 Pam Miller Director Alaska Community Action on Toxics 505 West Northern Lights Boulevard Suite 205 Anchorage, Alaska 99503 Diane Wilson President Calhoun County Resource Watch Box 1001 Seadrift, Texas 77983 Jane Williams Executive Director California Communities Against Toxics P.O. Box 845 Rosamond, CA 94560 Michael Green Executive Director Center for Environmental Health 528 61st Street, Suite A Oakland, CA 94609 Lee Ketelsen Campaign Director Clean Water Action 262 Washington Street, Room 301 Boston, MA 02108 Erik Jansson Executive Director Department of the Planet Earth 701 E Street,SE, Ste. 200 Washington, DC 20003 Jan Conley Board President EAGLE ( Environmental Association for Great Lakes Education) 394 Lake Av. S #222 Duluth MN 55802 Tracey Easthope, MPH Director, Environmental Health Project Ecology Center 117 N. Division Ann Arbor, MI 48104 Yomi Noibi Director of Training Environmental Community Action The Grant Building 44 Broad St. NW Suite 711 Atlanta, GA 30303 Gary Cohen Executive Director, Environmental Health Fund Co-Executive Director, Health Care Without Harm 41 Oakview Terrace Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Alan Muller, Executive Director Green Delaware Box 69 Port Penn, DE 19731 USA Rick Hind Legislative Director, Greenpeace Toxics Campaign Greenpeace 702 H Street, NW #300 Washington, DC 20001 Bill Walsh National Coordinator Healthy Building Network 927 15th Street NW, 4th Floor Washington, DC 20005 Mryna Soule President Learning Disabilities Association of Oregon David Ludder President Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation 1114 Thomasville Road, Suite E Tallahassee, FL 32303-6290 Angela Crowley-Koch Executive Director Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility 921 SW Morrison, Suite 308 Portland, OR 97205 Lisa Arkin Oregon Toxics Alliance P.O. Box 1106 Eugene OR 97440 Ronnie Cummins, National Director Organic Consumers Association (USA) 6771 South Silver Hill Drive Finland MN 55603 Fernando Bejarano G Pesticide Action Network (RAPAM) Amado Nervo 23, int. 2 Col. San Juanito Texcoco, Edo. de Mexico CP 56121 MEXICO Johanna Congleton Physicians for Social Responsibility - Louisiana E.M.T. O'Nan Director Protect All Children's Environment 396 Sugar Cove Road Marion, North Carolina 28752 Herlin Hsieh and George Chen Taiwan Watch Institute Musin Road, Sec. 3, No. 148, 2F Taipei City 116,Taiwan Alyssa Schuren Director Toxics Action Center 44 Winter Street Boston, MA 02108 Ms. Bryony Schwan M.S. National Campaigns Director Women's Voices for the Earth P.O. Box 8743 Missoula, MT 59807 Balachandran Ramachandran 5115 Garden Way, Fremont, CA-94536

CC: Dr. Prodipto Ghosh, Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests. Email: prodipto_ghosh@nic.in

Mike Schade PVC Campaign Coordinator Center for Health, Environment and Justice 9 Murray Street, Floor 3, New York, NY 10007-2223 Phone: (212) 964-3680 Fax: (212) 349-1366 mike@besafenet.com www.besafenet.com/pvc.htm www.chej.org

Forests

Calls Needed: Walden/Baird Logging Bill Moving Fast

Activist tools below (important links, talking points, sample letters, etc)

Representative Greg Walden (R-OR-2) and Brian Baird (D-WA-3) introduced a bill, called the "Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act" (HR4200) that sweeps aside protections for forests, fish and wildlife in order to rush logging and roadbuilding after normal, natural events that occur in National Forests. Despite all of the green washing by Walden and Baird in a Resources Committee hearing on November 10, 2005, this bill is damaging to our forest ecosystems and cannot be defended as scientifically credible.

The bill is moving fast. The House Agriculture Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the bill on December 7, 2005. That same week, the House Resources Committee could vote on the bill and send it to the House floor. The bill could go to the House floor for a vote as early as the week of December 12th.

Representative Tom Udall (D-NM) has introduced an alternative bill called the "National Forests Rehabilitation and Recovery Act" (H.R. 3973). The Udall collaboration bill is a cautious, common sense approach, to studying the best responses to natural disturbances on forest ecosystems based on science and community collaboration.

Calls are needed to your Representative today.

TAKE ACTION: Call Your Representative. Please activate your networks, members and volunteers to call Members of the House of Representatives at 202-224-3121 and tell them to oppose the Walden logging bill (deceptively called the Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act, FERRA) and cosponsor the Udall collaboration bill (H.R. 3973, The National Forests Rehabilitation and Recovery Act. (Talking points for both bills are below).

ACTIVIST TOOLS

For a copy of the Walden/Baird logging bill go to:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills &docid=f:h4200ih.txt.pdf

For a copy of The Wilderness Society Analysis of the Walden/Baird logging bill go to: http://www.americanlands.org/documents/1131395420_Walden bill HR 4200 analysis.pdf

To view copies of the testimony submitted for the November 10, 2005 Resources Committee hearing on the Walden/Baird logging bill go to: http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/archives/109/ffh/111005.htm

For a copy of the American Lands report, After the Fires: Do No Harm in America's Forest, A Report on the Impacts of Logging on Forest Recovery: http://www.americanlands.org/issues.php?subsubNo=1085141603 &article=1130855803

For a factsheet on the Myths and Facts of the Walden/Baird logging bill prepared by NRDC please go to: http://www.americanlands.org/documents/1131128447_Walden bill myths and facts _2_.pdf

For a copy of the Udall collaboration bill go to:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills &docid=f:h3973ih.txt.pdf

Walden Logging Bill Talking Points

1. The Walden logging bill sweeps aside protections for forests, fish and wildlife in order to rush logging after normal natural events (such as rainstorms, fires, and droughts) on National Forests.

2. The Walden logging bill eliminates meaningful environmental review and cuts the public out of decisions that would harm America's public forests. The bill waives the National Environmental Policy Act for damaging logging activities after normal natural events on National Forests.

3. Logging after natural disturbances is not restoration or recovery. Logging these sensitive recovering forests degrades aquatic habitat through sediment runoff into streams, spreads invasive weeds, causes the loss of biological legacies, which include large live and dead trees that are vital in the recovery process.

4. According to the best available science there is no ecological emergency to log forests after normal, natural events on National Forests.

5. Burned forests are not a "waste," it is the US Forest Service's "salvage" logging program that wastes tax dollars.

6. Walden logging bill is a misplaced priority. Since the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (PL 108-148) was signed into law, virtually no projects have been implemented. Congress does not need to pass new legislation granting new logging authorities to the Forest Service, especially when the necessary and needed community protection work under the HFRA remains unfounded and incomplete.

Udall Collaboration Bill Talking Points

1. The Udall collaboration bill is a common sense approach to studying the best responses to natural disturbances on forest ecosystems based on science and community collaboration.

2. The Udall collaboration bill sets up five pilot projects. The projects are required to comply with current environmental protections and are monitored by a national scientific committee.

Sample LTE Talking Points

1. Pandering to logging interests, the Walden logging bill sweeps aside protections for forests, fish and wildlife in order to rush logging after normal natural events (such as rainstorms, fires, and droughts) on National Forests.

2. The Walden logging bill eliminates meaningful environmental review on damaging logging projects and cuts the public out of decisions that would harm America's public forests in order to maximize profits for logging companies.

3. Logging after natural disturbances is not restoration or recovery. Logging these sensitive recovering forests degrades aquatic habitat through sediment runoff into streams, spreads invasive weeds, causes the loss of biological legacies, which include large live and dead trees that are vital in the recovery process.

4. According to the best available science there is no ecological emergency to log forests after normal, natural events.

5. The Walden logging bill is a misplaced priority. Since the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (PL 108-148) was signed into law, virtually no projects have been implemented. Congress does not need to pass new legislation granting new logging authorities to the Forest Service, especially when the necessary and needed community protection work under the HFRA remains unfounded and incomplete.

6. Burned forests are not a "waste," it is the US Forest Service's "salvage" logging program that wastes tax dollars. The biggest trees that are most likely to be logged for economic reasons are the most important building blocks of a new forest, they shade young seedlings from sun and provide food and shelter for species ranging from woodpeckers to bears. Whereas, the Forest Service "salvage" logging program is a money loser that only benefits the timber industry by digging into the pockets of taxpayers.

Sample Letter to Member of Congress

Name of your Representative
US House of Representative
Washington DC 20515

Dear Representative X (List your Representative here),

Representative Greg Walden (R-OR) introduced the "Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act" on November 3, 2005. The Walden logging bill sweeps aside protections for forests, fish and wildlife in order to rush logging after normal natural events (such as rainstorms, fires, and droughts) on National Forests. The Walden logging bill eliminates meaningful environmental review and cuts the public out of decisions that would harm America's public forests. Specifically, the bill waives the National Environmental Policy Act for damaging logging activities.

The Walden logging bill promotes a false assumption that something must be done after normal, natural disturbances on National Forests, and that logging, roadbuilding and artificial replanting are necessary "restoration" and "recovery" actions needed. However, according to the best available science, there is no ecological emergency to log forests after normal, natural events. Logging and roadbuilding after fires should not be though of as a restorative action. As the 1988 Yellowstone fires taught us, forest recovery is more effective when log trucks and bulldozers are kept out of the picture, today Yellowstone is thriving.

The Walden logging bill is a misplaced priority. Since Congress passed the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (PL 108-148) in 2003 virtually no projects have been completed. Congress does not need to pass new legislation granting new logging authorities to the Forest Service, especially when the necessary and needed community protection work under the HFRA remains unfunded, and the Forest Service continues to fail to complete these projects due to lack of funding. Additionally, the Forest Service has plenty of existing authority to rapidly respond to natural disturbances on national forests.

Finally, communities nationwide are working together to find solutions in many collaborative processes to restore forests and/or protect their communities from wildfire. If this bill passes, the actions that it will allow will likely ignite new timber wars, much like the Salvage Logging Rider of 1995. The current collaborative spirit around National Forest restoration and community wildfire protection is too important to throw away on a bill that will give more subsidies and the public's old growth trees to the timber industry.

There is a better solution. Please cosponsor The National Forests Rehabilitation and Recovery Act (H.R. 3973) by Representative Tom Udall (D-NM). The Udall collaboration bill is a cautious, common sense approach, to studying the best responses to natural disturbances on forest ecosystems based on science and community collaboration. The Udall collaboration bill sets up five pilot projects to test rehabilitation needs after natural events on National Forests. The projects are required to comply with current environmental protections and are monitored by a national scientific committee.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Address

For more information contact Lisa Dix, ldix@americanlands.org or Anne Martin, annem@americanlands.org or go to www.americanlands.org

Lisa Dix
National Forest Program Director
American Lands Alliance
ldix@americanlands.org
Ph: 202-547-9105; Fax: 202-547-9213