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Summer/Fall 1999 |
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Chattahoochee
National Forest, GA Chattahoochee National Forest, GA West Fork A deal to acquire the 220-acre tract on the West Fork of the Chattooga River for the national forest system has fallen through. The Forest Service’s most recent property appraisal for the tract was far short of the dollar amount needed. The Conservation Fund, a large land trust who held an option to purchase the tract, appraised its value at a figure considerably higher than the Forest Service’s figure. Some semblance of agreement between the two would have allowed acquisition efforts to proceed; however, the Forest Service’s appraisal was revealed only 24 hours before The Conservation Fund’s option on the tract expired. Obviously, this left no time for further negotiations, and the Conservation Fund abandoned the deal. The CRWC has learned that an Atlanta developer currently holds a new option on this critical tract. Sensitive Species An anti-environmental rider attached to the current Senate Interior Appropriations Bill allows federal land managers to bypass court-ordered surveys for rare species, and proceed with logging sales. Known as Sec. 329, this rider eliminates the requirement for federal land managers to adequately maintain species population data, and to use sound science in assessing the impacts of logging on sensitive, threatened, and endangered species. The rider was designed to negate a recent federal court decision applying to the Chattahoochee National Forest that has suspended Forest Service timber sales and harvests, because the agency failed to conduct adequate surveys as required by the 1976 National Forest Management Act. The rider is also aimed at a related court ruling that recently suspended 34 timber sales on federal land in the Pacific Northwest, because the Forest Service failed to fully implement requirements of the Northwest Forest Plan. Georgia Senator Max Cleland helped lead the fight to have the rider removed from the appropriations bill, which was unsuccessful. Endangered Species On August 3, 1999 the Forest Service announced a temporary halt to timber harvesting operations in portions of the Nantahala National Forest located in Macon, Graham, Swain and Cherokee Counties. While conducting surveys prior to logging, Forest Service biologists found 28 Indiana Bats, an endangered species strictly protected by federal law under the Endangered Species Act. This find caused a flurry of activity, including protests by loggers and private property rights groups, a request by Representative Charles Taylor (R-NC) for federal disaster relief, and a statement from one environmental organization that the group will file a suit under the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act and Administrative Procedures Act to halt all proposed and ongoing logging in the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests that might threaten the survival of endangered Indiana Bats. Meanwhile, by September 8th the Forest Service had conducted surveys that indicated no presence of the bats in five timber sales, and portions of seven other timber sales in Graham and Macon Counties. Once again, the Interior Appropriations Bill is laced with riders that undermine or under-fund critical environmental laws and programs! As of press time, a number of riders have been added to the appropriations bill, which will probably be brought to a vote in September. Debate in congress about the bill is intense, with the Republicans adding most of the riders and the Democrats working to remove them. If the rider battle causes the Interior Appropriations Bill to be folded into the Omnibus Spending Bill, removing the offensive legislation would be even more difficult as it is harder to delete line items from the Omnibus Bill. The riders include: Sec. 320, Delay National Forest Planning This rider would cut off the funding for revising many of our outdated National Forest Plans, most of which have been undergoing an extensive revision process for the past two years. This rider could push the Forest Service into constructing hasty, status quo Forest Plans promoting their old resource extraction agenda, rather than forwarding the agency’s "new vision" of ecosystem restoration, water quality protection and high quality recreation. Sec. 325, Divert Trail Fund for "Forest Health" Logging This rider has the potential to divert large amounts of money from the Road and Trail Maintenance & Repair Fund to one where the funds are used for timber sales, under the guise of implementing "forest health measures." The rider would also open the door for another mismanaged slush fund for the Forest Service’s timber program. Considering that the Forest Service has a $10 billion backlog of system road maintenance and repair, this rider is inappropriate and potentially destructive. Sec. 336, Weaken the 1872 Mining Law The rider allows mining companies operating on federal land to use as much of our public land as they need to dump their toxic mining waste. Sec. 336 would legislate a major change to an already terribly outdated mining law, which allows private companies to obtain "patent" applications to mine federal land for just $2.50 to $5.00 per acre. Please take the time to contact your Members of Congress; let them know how you feel about this method of legislating anti-conservation actions. Also, please ask them to support or sponsor legislation that will stop this practice of back-door, special interest lawmaking. Enough is enough!! Land and Water Conservation Fund Currently in congress there are five different bills, in addition to the President’s Land Legacy Program, pertaining to funding and dispensing the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which provides federal funds for adding to our public lands system. These bills are: HR 701, introduced by Don Young (R-Alaska) and John Dingell (D-Michigan); S. 25, introduced by Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana); HR 798, introduced by George Miller (D-Calif.), with a companion bill in the senate, S. 446, introduced by Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.); and finally S. 532, introduced by Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.). Although all of the bills seek to restore permanent annual funding to LWCF program, the percentages of funding and how it is allocated vary greatly. The Young, Murkowski and Landrieu bills all depend heavily on increasing the revenue from offshore oil drilling, which would be earmarked for use in the same state or geographical area that the oil revenue was generated. Thus, these bills increase the incentive to allow off-shore oil drilling. The bills also further restrict the use of the funds for federal land acquisition, by requiring congressional approval for projects over $1 million (HR 701) or $5 million (S. 25). Also, in HR 701 funds must be spent east of the 100th meridian, and only for land in and around existing federal properties. All bills incorporate a host of other programs in addition to the LWCF, concerning lands, parks, recreation, wildlife and coastal communities. The Miller, Boxer and Feinstein bills include funding for Endangered species recovery; historic preservation; lands restoration; farm, range and forest conservation; however, the Young, Murkowski and Landrieu bills do not include funds for these actions. Other differences between these bills are the overall dollar amount dedicated to the state side funding, versus the federal side. These comparisons are only the high points of the bills. For a full explanation of all the differences between the bills, and to make an informed decision on which bill to support, side by side comparisons can be found on the internet at www.teaming.com. In June of this year, popular blues/folk/rock singer Bonnie Raitt donated 100 tickets to the Chattooga River Watershed Coalition for her June 19th concert at the Peace Center in Greenville, SC. The special tickets included premium seating and a private reception with Bonnie after the show. All who attended were delighted with Bonnie’s personal attention and her commitment to conservation and the environment. The funds raised were earmarked for helping raise public awareness of chip mills, and the devastating impact they have on Southeastern forests and communities. |