Forest Watch News and Events
Sept. 9, 2005
http://www.forestwatch.org
In this issue:
--States Challenge Bush on Roadless Rule
--Mercury: Another Reason to Get Serious about Acid Deposition
--Forest Watch Moves to Richmond, Vermont
-- Forest Watch on TV
--Upcoming Hikes
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STATES CHALLENGE BUSH ON ROADLESS RULE
On August. 30, the states of California, Oregon and New Mexico
announced they were filing a lawsuit challenging the Bush
Administration's repeal of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer stated: "I am filing this
lawsuit because the Bush Administration is putting at risk some of
the last, most pristine portions of America's national forests."
New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid added: "Our water supply
comes from our forests and depends upon those forests remaining
healthy. The federal government acknowledges that road-building and
timber harvest will result in decreased water quality, increased
sediment and pollutants, yet they refuse to protect our state's few
remaining pristine areas." Nationwide, more than 3,400 cities rely on
National Forests for their municipal water.
Neither the governor of New Hampshire or Vermont--states host to
national forest land in New England--have yet taken official action
against, or in support of, the Bush Administration's rewrite of the
"Roadless Rule." Under President Clinton, the rule prohibited
road-building and logging in large roadless areas of the National
Forest system. The Bush Administration replaced Clinton's rule with a
controversial regulation that requires states to work with the U.S.
Forest Service to determine the fate of individual forests rather
than managing forests as a whole. The Bush revision of the rule is
widely scene by conservationists as an underhanded attack on an
immensely popular program for the protection of our public lands, as
well as placing the burden of Roadless Area evaluation in the hands
of state government, which lack the resources and expertise to make
such judgments.
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MERCURY: ANOTHER REASON TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT ACID DEPOSITION
Did you know that in our region, mercury pollution is a problem not
just for fish and aquatic ecosystems, but also for birds and other
terrestrial wildlife?
A paper written for Forest Watch by volunteer activist Lene Gary
reports on recent scientific findings that acid deposition (acid
"rain") is a key factor in the accumulation of methylmercury in high
elevation species such as the Bicknell's Thrush. This bird, along
with other affected bird species, feeds primarily on insects.
Mercury is borne into our mountains from the same sources that cause
acid deposition, especially coal-fired power plants in the Midwest.
Acidic precipitation facilitates the uptake of mercury in the bodies
of various organisms; mercury concentrates as it moves up the food
chain.
Forest Watch has asked the Forest Service in Vermont and New
Hampshire to give serious consideration to the combined effects of
logging and acid deposition on forest soils and forest productivity.
It may now be time to also question what the Forest Service can and
should do about mercury accumulation in forest ecosystems.
To learn more about this subject, read Lene's report at
http://www.forestwatch.org/content.php?id=275.
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FOREST WATCH MOVES TO RICHMOND, VT
Forest Watch recently moved its office from Montpelier to Richmond,
where we now share space with the Wildlands Project. The move has put
us closer to a large base of active members in the Burlington area as
well as potential new activists and volunteers. We hope to engage
more students from UVM, Middlebury, and other colleges in our
advocacy work, and thereby help build a strong voice for wild forests
and wildlife among the future leaders of Vermont and the region. We
are also pleased to be down the hall from the Wildlands Project, a
group we have long admired and respected, and with which we sometimes
partner on a variety of projects.
We're still unpacking boxes in our new office,but please stop by for
a visit or give us a call. We'd love to see or hear from you!
Our new information:
FOREST WATCH
PO BOX 188
RICHMOND, VT 05477
PHONE: 802-434-2388
FAX: 802-434-5980
Website and email is still the same:
http://www.forestwatch.org
contact@forestwatch.org
We are physically located at 52 Bridge Street, 2nd Floor. However,
U.S. Mail goes to the above PO Box only.
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FOREST WATCH ON TV
Deputy Director Mollie Matteson recently appeared on the Chittenden
County public access TV program, Conserving Vermont. Discussion with
the program host, Warner Shedd, focused on wilderness, ATVs, and the
Forest Service's draft Forest Plan for the Green Mountain National
Forest. The program is sponsored by the Vermont Association of
Conservation Voters.
Chittenden County residents with cable TV can watch the 30 minute
program on Channel 17 over the next month. The show can be seen today
(Sept. 9) at 3:13am, 9:13am, and 3:13pm. Check the Channel 17 website
for other replay dates and times:
http://www.channel17.org/ch17dailyschedule/.
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UPCOMING HIKES
Tomorrow ! !
Sat. September 10, 2005: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Battell Old Growth Preserve
East Middlebury, VT
Leaders: Mollie Matteson and Dan Wells
Visit this rare remnant of Vermont's original forest. Old trees,
diverse habitat, wildlife sign. A window into the future of our
recovering wild forests.
Off-trail travel, steep ups and downs, some climbing over fallen
logs. Please wear clothing appropriate to weather, and sturdy shoes.
Bring lunch/snack and water. Suggested donation: $15-25/person
CALL 802-434-2388 before 5p.m. today to register.
Sat. October 15, 2005: 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Wild Romance Adventure--NEW DATE!
Hancock, Vermont
Leader: Mollie Matteson
Difficulty: Moderate to strenuous
Off-trail exploration of proposed Romance Mountain Wilderness, along
lovely Grindstone Brook. This is a trip for those with a sense of
adventure and desire to visit an area seen by few humans, due to its
trailless character.
YOU MUST REGISTER TO PARTICIPATE
Call 802-434-2388
Deadline for registration: Oct. 13
Minimum group size: 10
Suggested donation: $15-25 per person to cover a portion of our
costs. Larger donations are welcome.
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That famous picture of the earth from outer space that Apollo beamed
back in the late 1960s --already that's not the world we inhabit; its
poles are melting, its oceans rising. We can register what is
happening with satellites and scientific instruments, but can we
register it in our imaginations, the most sensitive of all our
devices?
--Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and
Hope, Human and Wild
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Forest Watch News and Events
Sept. 9, 2005
news@forestwatch.org
http://www.forestwatch.org
PO Box 188
Richmond, VT 05477
802-434-2388
If you'd like to send a contribution to Forest Watch today for the
future of wild forests and all our wildlife, please enclose a check
to Forest Watch, PO Box 188, Richmond, VT 05477. All contributions
are tax-deductible. Thanks!
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