Greenpeace activists are out in the cold, rainy fog of Alaska's Tongass forest today in the area's first forest rescue station, trying to stop the Texan chainsaws of George W. Bush. Ever predictable, the US president has broken promises in order to line the pockets of big industry. Greenpeace USA, Inc. is doing something about it.
Greenpeace activists and local residents stop roadbuilding and timber operations to protect the Tongass National Forest. George Bush wants them out of his way so he can hand the forest over to the timber industry.
The Tongass was supposed to be protected by one of the most
popular conservation rules in American history: the Roadless Rule.
But Bush has decided to rewrite it with a pen borrowed from logging
interests. On Christmas Eve of last year, Bush took 9 million acres
of Alaska's Tongass National Forest out of the public domain and
put them under the Christmas tree for the forest industry.
"The Tongass is the crown jewel of the national forest system, a
place of international significance, and it is threatened by Bush's
agenda which makes no economic or ecological sense" said Jeremy
Paster, Greenpeace USA Forest Campaigner. "Like the Brazilian
rainforest of the Amazon, this American rainforest in Alaska must
be protected and restored."
Greenpeace forest campaigners monitoring the situation from
Washington DC report that the Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise, is
also making its way to the protest site and is being spotted by a
US Coast Guard helicopter.
The people pay
Logging on public lands consistently loses taxpayer money. On
August 1, The Washington Post reported on the shrinking market for
Tongass wood, logs being left to rot, and gross mismanagement of
the Tongass Timber program.
("Reopening Forest Areas Stirs Debate in Alaska"). In 2002
alone, the US government took in just US$ 1.2 million in the timber
program after spending US$ 36 million, a loss of US $34.8 million.
The site of today's peaceful protest, an area called the Finger
Point Timber Sale, will cost US taxpayers more than US$
600,000.
"Four
years ago, candidate Bush promised the American people that he
would uphold the laws protecting America's forests," Paster
continued. "President Bush has betrayed his promise in order to
line the pockets of the timber industry. It's time for people to
stand up, to draw a line in the sand and to rescue our forests from
Bush's chainsaw massacre."
In mid-July, the Bush administration moved to eliminate the
Roadless Rule nationwide a proposal that threatens the entire
58.5 million acres of the USA's pristine roadless areas in national
forests.
As a candidate, President Bush promised to be an environmental
president and uphold the Roadless Rule. However, since taking
office he has proven to be the worst environmental president in US
history.
Take Action
Greenpeace is calling for an immediate national moratorium on
large-scale commercial logging and road construction on federal
forests that are under the administration of the US Forest Service
and the Bureau of Land Management.
Send a message to the USDA Forest Service protesting Bush's
weakening of the Roadless Rule
Become a Greenpeace
cyberactivist.
Join Greenpeace