Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.4.64.0907012002390.17691@panix3.panix.com>
From: Alan Sondheim <sondheim@panix.com>
To: Cyb <cybermind@listserv.aol.com>, Wryting-L <WRYTING-L@listserv.wvu.edu>,
Cyberculture <cyberculture@zacha.org>
Subject: Breaking News: 193 Million Acres of Forest Protected (fwd)
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 20:02:54 -0400 (EDT)
---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 18:25:50 -0400 (EDT) From: Center for Biological Diversity <kieran@biologicaldiversity.org> To: sondheim@panix.com Subject: Breaking News: 193 Million Acres of Forest Protected Dear Alan, Great news: A federal judge just struck down the Bush administration's rules limiting protection and citizen oversight of the entire 193-million acre National Forest System. The Bush rules stripped away the U.S. Forest Service's requirement to maintain viable wildlife populations whenever it planned a new clear-cut, mine, or road. The rules also banned the Forest Service from even considering environmental impacts when developing long-term management plans guiding million of acres of lands. The court, however, agreed with the Center for Biological Diversity's lawsuit that such willful disregard for endangered species, clean water, and quiet recreation violated the Endangered Species Act and other laws, and struck down the rules in their entirety. Our national forests provide critically important habitat for thousands of fish, wildlife, and plant species, and are a source of clean water and recreational opportunities for millions of Americans. We look forward to working with the Obama administration to develop a new set of rules that truly protect the invaluable resources they contain. Enjoy this major victory for our national forests. Thank you for helping make it happen. We'll be calling on you soon to contact the Obama administration to ensure its new rules do everything possible for wildlife and wild places. Sincerely, Kieran Suckling Executive Director Center for Biological Diversity P.S. Your support made it possible for the Center to keep the pressure on the Forest Service to protect our national forests for almost a decade. If you'd like to help keep us in the fight, please consider making a gift now: https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5929/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=5053. P.P.S. Here's how the San Francisco Chronicle covered the victory: Forest Service must reinstate tougher guidelines By Peter Fimrite // July 1, 2009 San Francisco Chronicle A federal judge in San Francisco Tuesday struck down national forest management rules devised by the Bush administration that environmentalists had denounced as a thinly veiled sop for timber companies. U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilkin ruled in favor of a group of 14 environmental organizations that sued the U.S. Forest Service for essentially relaxing regulations in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act. The decision means the Forest Service will have to reinstate rules protecting fish and wildlife and limiting logging in 150 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering 192 million acres, including more than a dozen national forests in California. "It is a great victory for national forests," said Marc Fink, a lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity, which was one of the plaintiffs. "We're hoping today's ruling is the final nail in the coffin for the Bush forest policies and that we can move forward and do what is right for the forests...." ****************************************** Donate now to support our work: https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5929/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=5053 This message was sent to sondheim@panix.com. The Center for Biological Diversity sends out action alerts and newsletters through DemocracyinAction.org. If you'd like to check your profile and preferences, click here: https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/profile/login.jsp. To stop receiving action alerts and newsletters from us, click here: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/content.jsp?content_KEY=6004. Center for Biological Diversity P.O. BOX 710 TUCSON, AZ 85702 1-866-357-3349