FROM THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY - yes, it is a rant of sorts, but one I feel is important and worth a read. Thanks, kat

The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it
leaves to its children. -Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian


In a callous response to a summer of human suffering and property loss across the Western United States, President Bush yesterday announced his proposed changes to federal wildfire policy.

His plan will pay off the timber industry, disembowel environmental
protections and do precious little to protect our forests, those who live near them and those men and women who risk their lives fighting
wildfire.

Please tell President Bush that you reject his fire plan for what it
is: a shameless willingness to trade on human fear and suffering just
to fulfill the timber industry's wildest anti-environmental dreams.


We urge you to not only call the White House comment line at
202-456-1111 yourself, but to get your family and friends involved by
forwarding this Wild Alert to them and asking them to respond. The
threat to our forests from this initiative is that serious!
You can also take action from our website at:
Wilderness Society

One of the Worst Summers on Record

Wildfire charred more than six million acres of forest this summer and some fires continue to burn. The fires also damaged hundreds of homes and caused entire communities to be evacuated. The reasons are
generally understood and generally agreed upon:

-This summer caps four years of serious drought across the West.
Standing timber has less moisture in it than kiln-dried lumberyard
two-by-fours.

-The nation has systematically extinguished every blaze, of every
size, in our forests for over a century. The result is fuel-many more trees per acre than occurred historically, and a huge increase of low, weedy, flammable growth those natural fires cyclically consumed.

-People are moving into forest environments in growing numbers and are reluctant to remove the very trees that attracted them in the first place and where local zoning often neither prohibits such building nor imposes sensible fire-protection requirements on it.

When reasons are so well understood, solutions should be
correspondingly clear. And they are.

A VERY DANGEROUS BLAME GAME

The timber industry, now speaking through a compliant president eager
to press an election advantage, says environmental regulations are to
blame-that conservationists have tied the Forest Service up in knots
and prevented the removal of all this built-up fuel.


The facts and the General Accounting Office (GAO) say otherwise. The
GAO reports that only 1 percent of fuel reduction projects was
appealed last year.


Environmental laws are NOT the problem. The problem is the Forest
Service's steadfast refusal to address the problem where it exists-and where so many Americans paid so dearly this summer. That place is where the forest meets homes and communities. The timber industry, and thus today's Forest Service, would rather cut large, old trees in remote areas than confront the deadly problem that this summer damaged so many homes and lives.


TAKE ACTION NOW!


Founded in 1935, The Wilderness Society works to protect America's
wilderness and to develop a nation-wide network of wild lands
through public education, scientific analysis and advocacy. Our
goal is to ensure that future generations will enjoy the clean air
and water, wildlife, beauty and opportunities for recreation and
renewal that pristine forests, rivers, deserts and mountains
provide. To take action on behalf of wildlands today, visit our
website at http://www.wilderness.org