Do you want healthy forests or "Clearcuts for Kids?"
Protect our forests and our children by helping to defeat the National Forest Giveaway Act!
In November, 1999, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2389, the "Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act." This law is a Trojan horse for local control of national forests and could cause devastating effects in forests throughout the United States. We need your help to stop this bill in the Senate and to ensure that our forests--and school children--are protected!
Currently, rural counties derive a portion of their income--including funding for schools--from national forest logging receipts. Thus, rural schools are dependent on logging to generate income.
Supporters tout H.R. 2389 as a measure that will provide a stable funding source for cash-strapped counties that have suffered due to declining national forest logging levels. In fact, H.R. 2389 will not guarantee additional funds for rural schools and will continue to tie education funding to logging. Do we really want to make our children's future dependent on logging in our national forests?
Also, H.R. 2389 could drastically change management of ALL national forests by creating new, timber-friendly councils in every county. These councils could use federal tax dollars to initiate logging projects within adjacent national forests. The revenues from these projects would return directly to the counties, to be used to initiate more logging.
In effect, H.R. 2389 is the first step in turning control of the national forests over to the counties--an effort that could lead to the degradation of millions of acres of unprotected wilderness and old growth forests. Our children and our forests deserve better. Please, send a letter today on behalf of California's forests and kids!
What you can do:
Write Senator Dianne Feinstein and ask her to oppose H.R. 2389 or similar measures when they are taken up in the Senate. Urge her to support President Clinton's proposal to permanently separate national forest logging from rural school funding, and provide guaranteed stable county payments. Also, ask the Senator to oppose any measure that allows counties to control the fate of national forests, or forces counties to spend revenue on national forest management.
The bill may come up soon in the Senate, so please send a letter today. You should also send a copy of your letter to Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman.
Honorable Dianne Feinstein, United States Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510
Honorable Secretary Dan Glickman, Department of Agriculture, 14th St. and Independence Ave. SW, Washington, D.C. 20250
If you are a teacher, we need your help! Please contact Jessica Rios at (530) 892-0928.
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Just three miles off of Interstate 80, 
