Industry Mounts New Attack on Wilderness
12/28/98
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Industry Mounts New Attack on Wilderness, Warns Heritage
Forests Campaign
Source: PRNewswire, Cable News Network, Inc.
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: December 28, 1998
WASHINGTON -- A fresh attack on wilderness has been mounted by a so-
called institute sponsored by Amoco, Occidental Chemical, American
Petroleum Institute, American Farm Bureau, Chlorine Chemical Council,
Philip Morris Cos. and others.
Blatantly misstating the facts, the industry front group "the
Heartland Institute" attempted a few days before Christmas to
convince Americans that one-third of our country is wilderness. The
reality is that just 4.4% of America's land area is protected
wilderness. In many areas, such as the southern Appalachian
Mountains, it's more like 1%.
In fact, even all the federal public lands in the United States don't
add up to one-third of the land area-- including all the Forest
Service land that has been completely stripped of timber, and the
Bureau of Land Management land that have been grazed down to stubble.
The industry front group also claimed that a lack of timber is drying
up jobs, when the real reason is the timber market is glutted and
prices have plummeted. As USA Today reported Dec. 21: "A staggering
downturn in timber sales in the Tongass National Forest has raised
new doubts about the future of the Southeast Alaska timber industry
... Sixteen of 22 sales attracted no bidders, and the six that sold
were so small that the combined volume was less than 7.5 million
board feet. Forest Service economists predict that much of the '99
timber also will go unsold."
Heartland Institute's industry-paid "experts" claim they are
disseminating science instead of "uninformed emotion," but then go on
to peddle falsehoods about the threats to American's last remaining
wildlands.
This from a group that has spouted various types of anti-
environmental rhetoric for years: that global warming does not exist,
that clean air standards should not be strengthened, and that sprawl
and livability issues are no concern to the public. These claims run
headlong into most Americans' interests and perceptions.
When people are better informed, their support for protecting
wilderness increases dramatically. Most Americans start off with the
misperception that National Forests are protected from logging,
according to a recent series of focus groups conducted by Talmey-
Drake. When shown pictures of clear-cut logging in wilderness areas
of the National Forests, they are shocked and want it stopped. That
applies to men and women, conservatives and liberals. Furthermore, a
1997 poll by Lake, Sosin, Snell and Perry found that almost two-
thirds of Americans favor protecting roadless wild forests of over
1,000 acres from development.
Dr. Michael Soule, a preeminent, internationally recognized
conservation biologist, argues that even if we were to protect 10% of
the nation in a wilderness state, half the species alive today would
still go extinct from loss of habitat. He proposes protection of
wilderness just to maintain basic bio-diversity, not to mention
growing demand for fish, wildlife, recreation, clean water, and open
spaces.
Wilderness protection-- particularly of forest wilderness-- is hardly
on a fast track in this Administration. President Clinton and Vice
President Gore in nearly six years in office have protected 700,000
acres of forest wilderness (in 1993 in Colorado). President Reagan,
in contrast, protected 5.97 million acres of forest wilderness in his
eight years in office.
"Americans want more of our forest heritage protected as wilderness,"
said Ken Rait, Director of the Heritage Forest Campaign. "The
nation's wilderness agenda is incomplete. The Clinton-Gore
Administration must respond to the public's interest in additional
wilderness protection. And the Forest Service's pending roadless area
protection policy is the best place for them to start."
Although President Clinton promised a science-based National Forest
roadless area policy in November 1997, the Forest Service has not yet
protected any of the 60 million acres of untouched forests it
manages.