Clinton/Gore Target of Public Plea to Protect National Forest Roadless Areas.

Full Text: COPYRIGHT 1999 COMTEX News Network, Inc.

WASHINGTON, June 3 /U.S. Newswire/

Combining new and old methods, more than 200,000 Americans have told the Clinton Administration that it's time to take action to permanently protect the last remaining roadless areas in the national forests.

In a public comment campaign blending old-fashioned postcards and Internet activism, the Heritage Forests Campaign today delivered a loud and clear message to President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and U.S. Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck that the American public wants these untouched wild lands protected permanently from any road-building, logging, mining, or other environmentally damaging development.

The Clinton Administration is reportedly just weeks away from making a decision on whether, and if so, how, to manage roadless areas in the national forests. "What the American public wants is for President Clinton to ban the bulldozers from forest roadless areas forever," said Ken Rait, director of the Heritage Forests Campaign. "The Administration has repeatedly acknowledged the importance of roadless area protection. Unfortunately, they seem headed in a direction that misses the target, " Rait added.

This past February, the Forest Service announced an 18-month moratorium on roadbuilding in more than 33 million acres of national forests. While it does provide short-term protection for some unroaded areas from new roads, it fails to prohibit logging, mineral development, and other destructive activities in those areas. The Forest Service moratorium completely exempts vast tracts of ancient forests in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Additionally, it leaves out unprotected wilderness areas of 1,000 to 5,000 acres in size, such as many in the East.

"After decades dominated by logging, mining, roadbuilding and other damaging development on these publicly owned national forests, the best of what's left, remain under siege," said Rait. More than half of the 191-million acre National Forest System is laced with logging roads, littered with clearcuts, and pockmarked with mines. For example, the national forests are criss-crossed with nearly 400,000 miles of roads, more than eight times the U.S. Interstate Highway System.

The Heritage Forests Campaign has worked in recent months with U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) and the Technology Project, manager of the campaign's Web site (www.ourforests.org), and several other conservation groups to generate an estimated 200,000 public comments in support of permanently protecting national forest roadless areas. Roughly half of the comments are in the form of postcards to Vice President Gore and Forest Chief Dombeck and half are emails sent directly to Vice President Gore via the Heritage Forests Campaign's website.

U.S. PIRG, through its extensive grassroots organizing network, gathered more than 115,000 postcards to the Administration, calling for permanent protection of America's Heritage Forests.

"From shopping malls to Washington D.C.'s own Capitol Mall, from California to Florida, PIRG activists spoke to people all over the country about the need to protect roadless areas in our National Forests," said Gene Karpinski, executive director, U.S. PIRG. "The response to our effort was overwhelming. People from all walks of life took a moment to call on Chief Dombeck and Vice President Gore to protect our Heritage Forests for future generations. We hope the Administration heeds their call," Karpinski added.

Working with major Internet sites, such as Juno Online Services, the Technology Project has focused Internet attention on the Clinton/Gore administration to protect America's Heritage Forests. "Telling our government to do the right thing has never been easier or faster," explained Sarah DiJulio, Internet organizer for the Technology Project. "In just 30 seconds, you can send a free, paperless postcard to Vice President Al Gore."

The Technology Project, based at the Rockefeller Family Fund, has been working with the environmental community for the past several years to develop new ways to engage the American public. Americans want to protect their environment, and they are increasingly using the Internet to interact with their government. "Already, nearly 100,000 Americans have helped save trees twice this spring. We hope 100,000 more will do so after they visit their favorite Heritage Forest this summer," added DiJulio.

------ The Heritage Forests Campaign is an alliance of conservationists, educators, scientists, clergy and ordinary Americans who are working together to ensure that our unprotected scenic wilderness forests are permanently protected.

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