http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=92862


Informant: Roy Ulrich

Important Alerts on Heartwood Website
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 17:17:11 -0400

Please take a moment to visit http://www.heartwood.org/alerts.php and take action to defend publicly owned forests in Kentucky and West
Virginia. Thanks!

Devin M. Ceartas
(804) 644-4832


Informant: strider

We need your immediate action to help stop Bush administration plans for oil and gas drilling in the incomparable Otero Mesa of New Mexico -- a vital part of our Greater Rockies BioGem.

Please go to
http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction.asp?step=2&item=52158

and send a message telling the Bureau of Land Management to shelve its proposed plan for industrializing this unique and fragile wildland.

Located at the southern end of the Rockies, Otero Mesa boasts uninterrupted expanses of Chihuahuan desert grasslands, one of North America's most endangered ecosystems and crucial habitat for pronghorn antelope, mule deer and the black-tailed prairie dog.

All told, Otero Mesa is home to more than 20 species protected by the Endangered Species Act, including the Mexican spotted owl, the southwestern willow flycatcher, the Aplomado falcon and the black-footed ferret.

In its rush to let energy companies plunder America's Rocky Mountain landscapes, the Bush administration is about to finalize a plan that would permit oil and gas development throughout the Otero Mesa ecosystem. The resulting invasion of new roads, pipelines, transmission lines and hundreds of wells would devastate its irreplaceable wildlife habitat and wilderness characteristics.

The Bush administration is accepting public comments on its proposed development plan through June 28th.

Go to http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction.asp?step=2&item=52158

right now and tell the Bush administration not to sacrifice this magnificent piece of our natural heritage to oil and gas interests.

Sincerely,

John H. Adams
President
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council)

American Civil Liberties Union

The Bush Administration has indicated its willingness to violate international law by detaining individuals without charge or means of proving their innocence. The abuses in Iraq are only one example of the implications of such flawed policies. Contact the White House to insist that the US obey the rule of law...

http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=85052:740526

Moveon.org

As America learns more about the prisoner abuse scandal, it's becoming clear that the path to the crimes committed at Abu Ghraib prison began at Donald Rumsfeld's office in the Pentagon. Rumsfeld must resign or be fired...

http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=85049:740526

Der Regenwald Sumatras ist bedroht wie kaum ein anderer: Plantagen für Palmöl und Zellstoff für blütenweißes Papier fressen die Heimat von Waldelefant, Sumatra-Tiger und Nashorn. Dorfbewohner werden von Plantagenkonzernen von ihren Feldern vertrieben und die Flüsse mit Zellstoffabwässern vergiftet. An diesem Umwelt- und Sozialverbrechen verdient die Metro in Deutschland.

Schluss damit! Bitte protestieren Sie hier:

http://www.regenwald.org/mailaktion/aktion.php?show=21


Rettet den Regenwald e. V.
Friedhofsweg 28
22337 Hamburg
Tel. 040 - 4103804
Fax: 040 - 4500144
info@regenwald.ORG
http://www.regenwald.ORG

This week the Honor the Legacy petition exceeded 12,000 signatures. Initiated and hosted by EPIC, the petition calls on President Bush to support international law.

EPIC is now excited to report the U.S. Senate has passed an amendment that strongly affirms America’s support for international law and makes clear the U.S. will not use torture against prisoners or detainees.

Offered by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), the measure requires Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to issue guidelines to ensure that treatment of detainees meets standards established by U.S. and international law. It would also require Mr. Rumsfeld to report any suspected violations to Congress.

Upon passage of this important legislation, Senator Dick Durbin declared: "I hope that this overwhelming support for this amendment at this moment in time will say to us across America who feel it is important to send this message, and to those listening around the world, that the United States still stands strong by its commitments to oppose torture and the cruel and inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees (VOA 6/16/04)."

The amendment was attached to an overall defense bill and passed the Senate by a unanimous voice vote one week after government documents surfaced saying the administration may not be bound by international anti-torture principles in the war on terrorism.

EPIC commends the Senate for passing the Durbin amendment and sending such a powerful bipartisan message to President Bush that America must uphold the Geneva conventions and other prohibitions against torture.

HOWEVER OUR WORK IS NOT OVER.

U.S. Representatives have not passed a similar amendment, and thus the Senate anti-torture measure could be removed or watered down when the House and Senate meet to decide on the final version of the Defense Authorization bill.

Ask your Representative and Senators to urge their Congressional leadership to ensure the Durbin language emerge from the House-Senate conference committee on the Defense Authorization bill IN TACT.

Take Action via the EPIC Anti-Torture Action Page at:

http://www.epic-usa.org/Default.aspx?tabid=230

Since June 1st, volunteers and forest advocates have been gathered at Greenpeace's first U.S. Forest Rescue Station in Southern Oregon to bring attention to logging on our public lands. Over the past two weeks, we have witnessed the Bush administration's blatant disregard for our public lands.

But we refuse to watch as our natural heritage is destroyed. Today, activists took a stand against the forest policies that appease the timber industry and destroy our public lands.

They blockaded a key road which kept logging operations from taking place and were able to share their experiences in the forest via satellite. Please take a moment to read about their concerns as well as their efforts to stop logging for the day by visiting our weblog at http://weblog.greenpeace.org/stopthesales/

How can you take part in the action? Write Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon now and ask that he work to end all commercial logging of old-growth on our public lands. Take action at:
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/bin/view.pl/10048/action_id/218.html


Informant: STRIDER

Greenpeace blocks timber road in Oregon

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Logging%20Protest
http://courttv.com/news/2004/0616/greenpeace_ap.html
http://www.newsreview.info/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040616/NEWS/106160034
http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=32104
http://www.wtev.com/news/national/story.aspx?content_id=7AB982A4-E5E4-423E-9046-C12DD48A3320

Greenpeace News-headlines Digest, Vol 14, Issue 12

Your Calls Needed!

The second shoe to drop in this frantic week of legislative activity will hit on Wednesday, June 16, when the U.S. House of Representatives takes up the Interior Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2005. Few things are harder to follow than the serpentine course of appropriations bills through the Congress, but few things are more important to our public lands.

Time is very short -- your calls are needed urgently before Wednesday. Please call your Representative and ask her/him to vote FOR pro-conservation amendments in the FY05 Interior appropriations bill and to OPPOSE cuts in the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Capitol Switchboard, at 202-224-3121, will connect you to your Representative's office. You can look up who your Representative is at:
http://ga1.org/wilderness/leg-lookup/search.tcl?domain=wilderness&preview_p=1

Please use the talking points below in your phone call. If you absolutely can't call your Representative, please click here to send him/her a fax immediately from:
http://ga1.org/campaign/InteriorAppropriations/wd8ks5x4pin5k6

Talking Points
It takes only a few minutes to call your representative's office. It's painless and the message is simple and straightforward. Ask for the staff person who is handling the Interior Appropriations bill. Identify yourself and explain you're calling to urge the representative to oppose draconian cuts in the Land and Water Conservation fund and to vote FOR four amendments to the Fiscal Year 05 Interior Appropriations bill:

- The Holt-Shays Yellowstone Snowmobile Amendment;
- The Chabot-Andrews Tongass Subsidy Amendment;
- The Udall Forest Wildlife Conservation Amendment; and
- The Hinchey-Bass Yellowstone Bison Amendment.

Amendments Aim to Protect Yellowstone, Tongass, Other National Forests

Several members of the House will offer a common sense conservation package of amendments to the FY05 Appropriations bill to protect Yellowstone National Park, end subsidies for logging on the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, and block new rules that would gut the National Forest Management Act that protects all our forests and their wildlife. This same Interior Appropriations bill proposes to eliminate funding for almost all new Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) land acquisition.

Conservation Amendments to the Appropriations Bill
Not only funding levels are specified in the annual appropriations measures that must pass the Congress. Those bills also often include specific directions and prohibitions for federal agencies. This year, The Wilderness Society is working hard for passage of four such amendments, a sensible, bipartisan conservation package to protect some of America's best-known lands.

The Yellowstone Snowmobile Amendment
Reps. Rush Holt (D-NJ), Christopher Shays (R-CT), Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Tim Johnson (R-IL) will offer an amendment to protect America's first national park. It would require completion of the timely phase-out of snowmobiles from Yellowstone and nearby Grand Teton National Parks. The National Park Service and the Environmental Protection Agency have found that a transition from snowmobile to snowcoach access is necessary to protect public health, wildlife and the parks' natural environment.

Americans strongly support this transition to less intrusive, less polluting snowcoaches for the two parks. Under the amendment, the public will continue to enjoy full access to Yellowstone, while snowmobiling use will continue on millions of acres of public lands surrounding Yellowstone.

For more information on Yellowstone snowmobiles go to:
http://www.wilderness.org/WhereWeWork/Wyoming/orv.cfm

Tongass Subsidy Elimination Amendment
The Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska is America's Rainforest. It's our largest national forest, one of the wildest and among the richest in wildlife with bears, wolves, salmon and bald eagles in abundance. In a policy remarkably like hiring someone to damage your dearest possessions, American taxpayers have lost as much as $35 million in a single year to subsidize logging on the Tongass.

Reps. Steve Chabot (R-OH) and Robert Andrews (D-NJ) will offer the Tongass Subsidy Amendment" to prohibit spending of tax dollars to build new roads in the Tongass. If the President and the Congress are serious about cutting government waste, this subsidy to the Alaska timber industry is a perfect place to begin.

In all, we taxpayers have spent nearly a billion dollars since 1982 to subsidize the logging of America's temperate-zone rainforest. The forest deserves better; so do American taxpayers! For more information on the Tongass National Forest go to:
http://www.wilderness.org/WhereWeWork/Alaska/wilderness.cfm

Forest Wildlife Conservation Amendment
For nearly 30 years, the National Forest Management Act has guided Republican and Democratic administrations in the management of our 191 million acres of national forests. The Act's planning rules, developed under President Reagan, provide common sense standards for sustainable, scientific forest management, including landmark standards that can keep fish and wildlife from extinction.

The fondest wish of the timber industry has been the wholesale revision of these rules. The Administration has obliged by proposing radical new rules that will weaken wildlife protection, undermine public involvement, ignore science and play favorites with special interests.

Rep. Tom Udall (D-NM) will offer the "Forest Wildlife Conservation" amendment to block these disastrous new rules. His amendment will ensure that we continue to strive for sustainable management of our national forests and protection of their wildlife. Over 325 prominent scientists, including E.O. Wilson, have urged the Administration to withdraw this special-interest revision of the rules.

For more information on the National Forest Management Act and the proposed rule changes go to:
http://www.wilderness.org/OurIssues/Forests/index.cfm#regs

The Yellowstone Bison Amendment
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Rep. Charles Bass (R-NY) will offer an amendment to deny funds for the continued slaughter of bison that leave Yellowstone each winter to seek food on adjacent public lands. If passed, the amendment would force the National Park Service to find common-sense solutions to bison herd management. Last year, a similar amendment very nearly succeeded; your representative could make the difference this year.

Over the past two decades, the National Park Service, the same agency that is charged with protecting wildlife and other park resources, has slaughtered over 3,700 Yellowstone bison. This year alone, the agency captured 482 bison inside the park and sent 277 to slaughter. Bison are a national icon and Yellowstone's bison are the only genetic link to the great herds of millions that once ranged over the western plains. This is no way to treat a national symbol!

For more information on the Yellowstone bison slaughter go to:
http://www.wilderness.org/WhereWeWork/Wyoming/BuffaloPreservationAct.cfm

Land and Water Conservation Fund Attacked
This House is proposing to eliminate funding for almost all new federal land acquisitions through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). LWCF is one of the most popular programs of the federal government. This bipartisan measure has served since 1964 to conserve land, water and open spaces, by buying land from willing sellers.

It works to complete and expand our treasured national parks, forests, refuges, wild lands and recreation areas and to protect watersheds and wildlife habitat and sites of historical and cultural significance. Without it, many of these places will be lost to development. Cutting LWCF funding is desperately shortsighted.

For more information on the Land and Water Conservation Fund, go to:
http://www.wilderness.org/OurIssues/Budget/LWCF-FY05.cfm

Please Take Action Now!

Again, there is very little time: the Interior Appropriations bill will come to the House floor as early as this Wednesday, June 16. Please call today -- 202-224-3121 and asked to be connected to your Representative. If you absolutely can't call, you can send a fax to your representative immediately from
http://ga1.org/campaign/InteriorAppropriations/wd8ks5x4pin5k6

If you'd like to write your own fax, we've included below a sample letter you can draw from. You can find fax numbers and other congressional contact information at
http://ga1.org/wilderness/leg-lookup/search.tcl?domain=wilderness&preview_p=1

Dear friend,

THANKS TO YOUR EFFORTS as part of the Iceland whales pledge, we're overjoyed to announce that Iceland has drastically reduced its whaling programme. There will be fin and sei whales in Icelandic waters this year who owe their lives to you!

Plans to kill 250 whales this year, including fin and sei whales, have been shelved in favour of a hunt of only 25 minke whales -- a massive step backwards in the face of domestic resistance, absence of market, and the kind of international outcry that you've helped build around this issue.

More than 57,000 of you have now pledged to visit Iceland if the government stops whaling. That represents a value of more than 67 million USD, against a whaling programme that earned only 4 million dollars in its heyday.

But we need to be clear: while we welcome this positive step forward from Iceland, WE WON'T BE TRAVELLING TO ICELAND UNTIL THE WHALING PROGRAMME STOPS COMPLETELY.

We're concerned the whaling interests might believe they can continue whaling at reduced numbers as a way to escape the glare of publicity and opposition. So let's send the government a little reminder that our offer was absolute: we will visit the beautiful shores of Iceland only when the whaling programme ends completely.

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO SEND A MESSAGE TO PRIME MINISTER DAVID ODDSSON:

http://act.greenpeace.org/ams/e?a=1462&s=whl