As the new home of WashPIRG's environmental work, Environment Washington can be contacted regarding this news release.
We applaud the U.S. House
of Representatives for voting to pass the Chabot (R-OH) - Andrews (D-NJ) amendment
to the FY2005 Interior Appropriations bill to stop taxpayer subsidies for construction
of new logging roads in the Tongass National Forest. The Tongass is America's
largest national forest and the biggest intact temperate rainforest left in
the world. In the past 20 years, the Forest Service has lost more than $750
million of taxpayer money by building roads to allow private companies to log
in the Tongass.
The vote is particularly
important in light of the Bush administration's efforts to increase logging
in the Tongass. For example, the administration has already exempted the Tongass
from the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a historic conservation initiative
enacted in January 2001 to protect nearly 60 million acres of national forests
from most logging and road-building. The Forest Service has received about 2.5
million comments in support of the Roadless Rule, making it the most popular
rule in history.
We commend the House, and
Washington Representatives Adam Smith, Jim McDermott, Brian Baird, and Jay Inslee
for voting for the amendment and showing leadership in saving taxpayer dollars
and protecting Alaska's Tongass Rainforest. We are disappointed that the rest
of the Washington congressional delegation failed to protect forests and taxpayers.
We urge the Bush administration to follow the House's lead.
