Just one phone call - 20 seconds for the land... "if you make one phone call for utah wilderness, let this be the one." ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 16:25:34 -0600 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Tomorrow's the Day Hi folks- Well, this is it. Most of you on this list have been around for a while, since the efforts to open Utah's canyon country really heated up three years ago. Since then, we've had many scares, most of which we've been successful at turning back. The one thing we have never had is a vote in the full Congress on a bill to actually designate wilderness. Now we do.... In this issue: House set to vote on Omnibus Parks Bill 1) As early as tomorrow, the House will vote on the Omnibus Parks Bill, HR 4570. As you've heard, this bill contains a section dealing with wilderness designation for the San Rafael Swell. If it were to pass, this bill would eliminate 125,000+ acres of Wilderness Study Areas, and over 600,000 acres of proposed wilderness in our bill, HR 1500 America's Red Rock Wilderness Act. Out of control ORVs could very well soon scare the unique landscapes of the Swell, the heart of Utah's Red Rock Wilderness. Utah isn't the only place at risk. This bill would also: sell off park of the C&O Canal National Park and Cumberland Island National Seashore to private interests; terminate wilderness classification for an area of the Hells Canyon Wilderness Area; increase logging in our national forests, allowing "salvage" logging in ten areas without normal environmental review; give away 666 acres of wilderness lands in the Everglades; and allow a road through the Chugach National Forest without the proper and necessary review. It's a bad deal through and through, a real grab bag of pro-development, anti-wilderness provisions. Moderate Republicans, lead by Rep. Sherwood Boehlert of New York, have been in constant negotiations with Rep. Jim Hansen over these bad provisions, but word is the talks are going nowhere fast. As the schedule stands now, the terms under which this bill will be debated, know as "the rule", are to be worked out at 5:30 EST today, with a vote as soon as tomorrow. Time is of the essence. If you make one call for Utah Wilderness this year, let this be the one. Call the capitol hill switchboard ( 202-225-3121), ask for your member of Congress, and then the person in that office who handles environmental issues. Ask them to have their boss vote against HR 4570, the Omnibus Parks bill. If you can, find out how they plan to vote. If you do, please drop us an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with what you've learned. Don't be distracted or put off if they tell you the bill has been amended for the better. We know about this so called improvement, and it isn't enough to make the bill worth passing. Special note to Utah folks: calls right now thanking Rep. Cook for his pledge to vote against this bill will help him keep it, so ring him up. We'll keep you posted as the events of the day play themselves out. Loosing this vote, even if it were eventually defeated in the Senate or vetoed by the President, would set a devastating precedent for the future. The next Congress, set to take office in January, could well be worse for the environment that this one. We've got to hold the line here. Thanks for all you do to preserve southern Utah's spectacular country. Hopefully, together we can once again keep the wild canyon country intact, to enjoy for years to come. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ * To subscribe to this list: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and leave the body of the email blank. The address from which you sent the email will be automatically subscribed. * To unsubscribe: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and leave the body of the email blank. The address from which you sent the email will be automatically unsubscribed. * To change your address: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] FROM your old address. Put your new address in the body of the message. * If you have any questions or problems regarding the mailing list, please send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] * For immediate information on Utah wilderness issues, contact: Dave Pacheco (801) 486-3161, Ken Veneables (801) 486-2872, or [EMAIL PROTECTED] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ [65/163]
