Robinson Lane Timber Sale Halted!
- Wild Mountain Times, January-February 2005

SABP [Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project] and fellow forest
defenders Virginia Forest Watch stopped the Robinson Lane timber sale in
the George Washington/Jefferson National Forest, VA.

This 505-acre timber sale was proposed for the upper reaches of the
Jackson River - an area with bald eagle habitat, caves for endangered
bats, habitat for numerous other rare species, and sensitive karst
geological areas nearby.

The Forest Service should have taken the utmost care before approving a
timber sale of this magnitude in this important region of Virginia;
however, it did just the opposite when it initially approved the
Robinson Lane timber sale.

"Lately the Forest Service in Virginia has been making a concerted
effort to rush decisions through and shut the public out of public lands
decisions," said Sherman Bamford of Virginia Forest Watch. "The
reversal of the Robinson Lane timber sale demonstrates what we have said
all along - that this results in shoddier work and poorer decisions."

http://www.sabp.net



New Plan to Raze NEPA Moves Forward

During the week of April 4, 2005, Richard Pombo (R-CA) and other pro-industry members of Congress will unveil their plan to gut the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), one of America's bedrock environmental laws. In an attempt to soften their message and appear "balanced" and "reasonable," Pombo and key leaders of the House Resources Committee will publicly claim that they intend to "streamline" and "modernize" the Act. The fact of the matter is that this group of legislators has an ambitious agenda to get rid of the most important components of NEPA and to make sure Americans will no longer be able to participate in decisions that impact us and the air, land and water that we, and future generations, depend on. Industry, developers and polluters are lining up and are organized already to support this effort.

Pombo and company will launch their campaign from an economic angle. Simply put, that NEPA is costing too much. They will claim that NEPA has crippled state economies and harmed the "common man," but the fact of the matter is NEPA has saved Americans innumerable tax dollars in environmental destruction clean up costs and burdens. And as we have heard many times before, Pombo and company will argue that NEPA is tying up the courts due to litigation by "environmental extremists" and preventing "reasonable" projects from moving forward.

Pombo's Plan To Get Rid of NEPA

1. Goals of Pombo's campaign: (a) Directing CEQ to promulgate clarifying regulations, (b) Amending NEPA, (c) Get State NEPA's to ease permitting requirements. In the short term it looks like the strategy is to gut the existing CEQ regulations until legislation is passed. Simultaneously, it appears there will be a state-wide strategy aimed at Governors and State Legislatures to gut State NEPAs (such as in California and Montana and others). Transportation, Forests, Public Lands, and Energy issues will be the primary areas of political focus.

2. Next week the "NEPA Task Force, " chaired by Eastern Washington Representative Cathy McMorris (R) will be launched. The Task Force will create recommendations based on hearings in order to change existing NEPA regulations and move forward with amending NEPA in 2006. The report, with recommendations, has a target release date of September 30, 2005. The press drumbeat will begin at the Task Force launch and a full two-year press strategy that continuously hammers on the Act will be employed.

3. Six "hearings" across the country will be organized. The organizers' goal is to focus on how NEPA has "crippled state economies," "impacted jobs" and other "inequities." The hearings will have 2 panels with 5 witnesses on each panel. So far, the organizers have invited state officials and industry representatives and others such as farmers and ranchers "impacted by the Act." It looks like the environmental community has not been contacted at this time.

4. The hearing schedule has not totally been set but here is what we know:
Spokane, WA: April 23
Bakersfield, CA: TBA
Huston, TX: TBA
One hearing is to be scheduled in the Carolina's, one in the Intermountain West and one in the Mid-Atlantic

We will keep you all up to date when we hear any other new developments or to update about the anti-NEPA campaign moving forward. For any questions, contact Lisa Dix, American Lands Alliance, ldix@americanlands.org

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

http://www.americanlands.org



Acid Rain Likely Stunts U.S. Forests

A recent international scientific study on Russian soils raises
concerns that acid rain may have serious implications for forest
growth in the U.S., particularly in eastern areas such as the
Adirondack and Catskill regions of New York according to the U.S.
Geological Survey.

"We've known that acid rain acidifies surface waters, but this is the
first time we've been able to compare and track tree growth in
forests that include soil changes due to acid rain," said USGS
scientist Greg Lawrence, who headed the study.

The team included scientists from Russia, the State University of New
York at Albany, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and
the U.S. Forest Service.

Lawrence said that despite several decades of research, up until now
acid rain effects on forests have not been well known, largely
because it's not been known how acid rain affects soil.

"Russians invented the study of soil science and through their help,
a large step forward has been taken in measuring acid rain effects on
soils and trees," he said. "By providing the only preserved soil in
the world collected before the acid rain era, the Russians helped our
international team track tree growth for the first time with changes
in soil from acid rain."

This study, conducted near St. Petersburg, Russia, showed that, in
about 50 years, acid rain had severely degraded a previously fertile
soil to the point at which spruce trees could no longer maintain
healthy growth rates. Poor growth rates such as these generally
precede high mortality rates in the near future. The declining tree
health has occurred despite a warmer and wetter climate in this
region that would be expected to improve growth.

These results have direct relevance to the United States, where large
areas of eastern forests, such as the Adirondack and Catskill regions
of New York, have soils that are likely to be more sensitive to acid
rain than those studied in Russia. Lawrence said that these findings
also broaden the question of recovery from acid rain beyond that of
just surface waters.

Details of the study have been posted in the March web version of
Environmental, Science and Technology journal.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050322120331.htm



Franklin County, VA Board of Supervisors Denies chip mill permit

On March 15, 2005, the Franklin County, Virginia Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to deny a new chip mill permit for V.T. Crawford to operate a chip mill on St. Rte 949 near Scruggs Road.

Citizens presented a petition with approximately 600 names in opposition to the permit.

On February 8, 2005, the Franklin County Planning Commission voted, 4-2, to recommend denial of the special use permit which would have allowed the chipping mill on a 7.5-acre parcel.

About 100 residents attended the planning commission meeting.

http://franklincountyva.org/supervisors.htm



Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority votes to turn over Explore Park lease to developer

As reported in the Roanoke Times, the The Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority (VRFA) voted to lease the park to Missouri-based Virginia Living Histories for 50 years. The vote (8 - 0) came after a 30-minute closed-door meeting and two hours of public comment. Those comments followed three themes: Everyone wants Explore to succeed; the lease needs improvement; the board should postpone the vote.

Although speaker after speaker requested to delay the vote, VRFA made the decision. While many leaders feel optimistic about the new developer taking over the lease, the details of what the new developer has in store for Explore Park remain a mystery.

As the Roanoke Times reports, "Larry Vander Maten and Dale Wilkinson, the man who introduced Vander Maten to Explore, have repeatedly refused to share any details about Virginia Living Histories' plans for Explore. But a draft of the lease that Virginia Living Histories drew up calls for the 'development and operation of a destination resort, theme park or other attraction.' The list of potential uses include hotels, restaurants, amphitheaters, stores and water parks.

From 2000 until October, Virginia Living Histories was called Western Living Histories. Its mission, according to papers filed with the Missouri secretary of state, was "to increase the knowledge of the general public about historic events of the Old West and involve the general public in historic re-enactments of early western daily activities." stated the Times in its March 25, 2005 article.

The National Park Service still has the last say with veto power over certain structures as outlined in a 1991 letter obtained by the Roanoke Times and reported in its March 26, 2005 edition.

http://www.roanoke.com/



Trophy Hunting Advocate Named Acting Director of US Fish and Wildlife Service

source: Humane Society of the United States

The HSUS expressed its strong disappointment that Interior Secretary
Gale Norton has named Matthew J. Hogan to be acting director of the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.

Norton announced the appointment yesterday, following last week's
resignation of Director Steve Williams. Hogan was formerly the chief
lobbyist for Safari Club International (SCI), an extreme trophy hunting
organization that advocates the killing of rare species around the world.

"Having a Safari Club lobbyist in charge, even temporarily, of the
federal agency that is supposed to protect endangered species is precisely
the wrong course to pursue for any Administration," said Wayne Pacelle,
president and CEO of The HSUS. "Someone with a true wildlife conservation
ethic, not an allegiance to the trophy hunting industry, should be
nominated by President Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for the
permanent director position as soon as possible."

The Arizona-based SCI has made a name for itself as one of the most
extreme and elite trophy hunting organizations, representing some 40,000
wealthy trophy collectors, fostering and promoting competitive trophy
hunting of exotic animals on five continents. SCI members shoot prescribed
lists of animals to win so-called Grand Slam and Inner Circle titles.
There's the Africa Big Five (leopard, elephant, lion, rhino, and buffalo),
the North American Twenty Nine (all species of bear, bison, sheep, moose,
caribou, and deer), Big Cats of the World, Antlered Game of the Americas,
and many other contests.

To complete all 29 award categories, a hunter must kill a minimum of
322 separate species and sub-species - enough to populate a large zoo. This
is an extremely expensive and lengthy task, and many SCI members take the
quick and easy route to see their names in the record books. They shoot
captive animals in canned hunts, both in the United States and overseas,
and some engage in other unethical conduct like shooting animals over bait,
from vehicles, with spotlights, or on the periphery of national parks.

SCI members have even tried to circumvent federal laws to import their
rare trophies from other countries. Prominent SCI hunter Kenneth E. Behring
donated $100 million to the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum and,
according to published reports, tried to get the museum's help in importing
a rare Kara Tau argali sheep which he shot in Kazakhstan and had shipped to
a Canadian taxidermist - one of only 100 Kara Tau argali sheep remaining in
the world. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, now under Hogan's watch, is
the agency charged with granting or denying such trophy import permits.

"The Fish and Wildlife Service should police trophy hunters and others
who seek to harm wildlife," added Pacelle. "They should not act as a
procurement agency for people who simply wish to shoot rare animals as a
means of improving their standing in the competitive world of trophy hunting."

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal
protection organization with more than 8.5 million members and
constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active
programs in companion animals and equine protection, wildlife and habitat
protection, animals in research and farm animals and sustainable
agriculture. The HSUS protects all animals through education,
investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy, and field work. The
non-profit organization is based in Washington and has field
representatives across the country.

www.hsus.org