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April 28, 2000
CONTENTS:
Featured Action: Help Stop the "Clearcuts for Kids" Bill in Senate
Regular Friday Action Features:
1) POPULATION: Support International Family Planning Funding
2) SPRAWL: Protect America's Air Quality From Sprawl-Inducing Highway
3) GLOBAL WARMING: Urge your Representative to Support the Clean Car Letter
4) WILDLANDS CAMPAIGN: Crunch Time to Protect Wild Forests
5) HUMAN RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENT: Mexican Environmentalists Need Your Help
6) CLEAN WATER: Hold Factory Farm Owners Accountable for Pollution
7) POLITICS: Do a Little or Do alot
8) FEATURED FIELD ITEM: MT EVEC Rollout Draws Press
Featured Take Action
HELP STOP THE "CLEARCUTS FOR KIDS" BILL
Almost a century ago, Congress passed a law requiring the U.S. Forest Service to turn over 25 percent of its logging revenues to rural counties to fund schools and roads. That outdated law creates a perverse incentive for affected communities to support high levels of logging. Although education funding is the excuse for supporting this program, many counties spend 75% of their payment on roads, not schools.
Unfortunately, Senator Wyden has teamed up with Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) to introduce a bill known as S. 1608, the so-called "Secure Rural Counties and Community Self-Determination Act," that would force an increase in logging incentives. This bill is not based on education needs but on past logging levels and actually takes funds away from many states in the country. The bill also forces counties to give as much as 20% of their "education funds" to logging projects.
This bill holds schoolchildren hostage to an unsustainable logging program. The main problems with this bill are:
- S. 1608 keeps the traditional tie between timber receipts and payments to counties. Counties would continue to have an incentive to advocate for more logging on federal lands.
- Under S. 1608, payments to counties would come from Forest Service revenues and fees and then from the general Treasury if Forest Service funds are insufficient. But, Treasury funds are not guaranteed. The likely effect would be for Congress to take the funding from environmentally beneficial activities such as wilderness management, fish and wildlife habitat restoration and recreation or force the Forest Service to increase logging.
- S. 1608 would take between 20% and 15% of the counties' education payments to create a special account that would be used for "investments in resource management and restoration." Counties do not have a choice - they have to give a portion of these "education funds" to logging projects.
- S. 1608 would create "local advisory committees" that would approve the special projects. This would give county officials and local interests influence to allocate millions of dollars of federal funds and would vastly increase local control over National Forest management. The National Environmental Policy Act allows for ample input from citizens and local governments into federal management decisions and has worked for decades.
The bill ignores the contributions of National Forests to recreation, wildlife, fishing and water quality. Nationally, recreation generates nearly $40 to the economy for every dollar generated by logging, and creates more than 30 times as many jobs. And increased logging destroys recreation opportunities. In addition, rural communities rely on National Forests for clean drinking water and logging can clog streams with silt and run-off. Communities should not have to sacrifice clean drinking water, jobs and wildlife habitat to fund their children's education.
** TAKE ACTION ** CALL YOUR SENATORS through the Capitol Hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and urge them to vote against S.1608. Tell them that schoolchildren should not be held hostage to an unsustainable logging program! Our children need good schools and a healthy environment. This bill may be before the Senate next week.
1) POPULATION: Contact your Delegation to Support International Family Planning Funding
Congressional supporters of international family planning have introduced legislation aimed at restoring funding for international family planning efforts abroad. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced "The Saving of Women's Lives through International Family Planning Act (H.R. 3634/S. 2380). This legislation would provide assistance for international family planning and repeal the Global Gag Rule. The Global Gag Rule disqualifies family planning associations overseas from receiving U.S. funds if they, with their own funds, lobby to change laws on abortion or provide legal abortion services.
International family planning programs provide services that save women's lives. They provide reproductive health care, including family planning that result in safe pregnancies and safe motherhood. Specifically, this legislation would authorize 1995 funding levels for international family planning-earmarking $542 million for population assistance and $35 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
TAKE ACTION
Call your Representative and Senators and urge them to co-sponsor this critical legislation. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
2) SPRAWL: Protect America's Air Quality From Sprawl-Inducing Highway
A recent experience in Atlanta illustrates how the Clean Air Act can positively affect transportation spending. In Atlanta, the air pollution problems prompted state and local governments to shift investment from sprawl-inducing highways and allowed more funds to be channeled to public transit, safety, traffic management and other projects to help revitalize existing communities. With many areas facing deadlines to attain the national air quality standards, this flexibility is important.
Rep. John Lewis' (D-GA) bill HR 3686 the "Road Back to Clean Air" would provide communities with funding tools to meet air quality health standards and improve transportation mobility. This bill strengthens the conformity provisions of the Clean Air Act to ensures that areas of the country with air quality problems take into account the pollution impacts of proposed transportation projects. Ask your Representative to protect your air quality from sprawl-inducing highways and cosponsor HR 3686. The Senate companion bill is S 2088 introduced by Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA).
For more information contact Dirk Manskopf at 202.675.7915 or dirk.manskopf@sierraclub.org.
3) GLOBAL WARMING AND ENERGY: Urge your Rep. to support the Clean Car Letter
OPEC is once again reminding us that we are dependent on oil. The biggest single step we can take to save oil and curb global warming is to raise miles per gallon standards for cars and light trucks. PLEASE call or write your Representative and urge them to sign the letter that Reps. Boehlert (R-N.Y.), Dicks (D-Wash.), Greenwood (R-Pa.), and Waxman (D-Calif.) are circulating in support of fuel economy standards. The Boehlert/Dicks letter to President Clinton urges him to "work with Congress to implement" the law setting automotive fuel economy standards. The anti-environmental rider that has frozen CAFE standards since 1995 starts in the House. It is time to stop it so we can stop guzzling gasoline and slash pollution! Please urge your representative to sign the Boehlert/Dicks Clean Car letter.
YOUR CALLS ARE WORKING!!!! There are now more than 60! co-signers to the Clean Car Letter. Several of our more recent signers have stated that they are hearing from their constituents. Your voices are being heard, so keep up the efforts. For more information contact jeffrey.bourne@sierraclub.org
4) WILDLANDS CAMPAIGN: Crunch Time to Protect Wild Forests
Wild Forest Action -- Our opportunity to protect 60 million acres!
It's crunch time for the Wild Forest campaign to protect 60 million acres of roadless National Forest lands. Forest Service hearings are being scheduled around the country to solicit feedback. These hearing dates are now available for most regions and will be posted on our web site by May 1 at https://www.sierraclub.org/wilderness/WildForest/Index.asp
Order your hats, placards, and lapel stickers for the hearings. These materials are to be distributed to people who are attending the Forest Service Hearings in May and June. Contact david.schneider@sierraclub.org to receive them.
Please continue to collect postcards from every region of the country. Contact julie.hudson@sierraclub.org for more postcards, brochures, or videos.
5) HUMAN RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENT: Mexican Environmentalists Need Your Help
For 10 months, Mexican anti-logging activists Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera have been in a prison in Iguala, a city in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. Following their arrest last May, they were beaten and gruesomely tortured until they confessed to trumped-up charges of weapons possession and drug-trafficking. In reality, their only "crime" was organizing local farmers to protest the increased logging in one of the last frontier old-growth forests remaining in North America.
The case is now in the last stages of the hearing process, after which the trial and sentencing phase will begin. We must increase the international pressure on the Mexican government as well as on local officials. Please write to Mexican Attorney General Jorge Madrazo Cuellar and urge that he drop the charges against Rodolfo and Teodoro. A sample letter can be found on our Web site at: www.sierraclub.org/human-rights/Mexico/letter.asp (Remember: a 1 ounce letter to Mexico costs about $0.46)
Lic.Jorge Madrazo Cuellar Procurador General de la República Paseo de la Refor 65 Esq. Violeta Col. Guerrero México, D.F., 06300. Fax: 53-46-09-04.
6) CLEAN WATER: Hold Factory Farm Owners Accountable for Pollution
Believe it or not, the giant corporations who own the livestock at many poultry and pig factories bear no legal responsibility for the massive water pollution these operations cause. To escape accountability, Perdue, Smithfield, Tysons and the other industrial corporations contract with independent growers to raise the animals. When EPA or state agencies issue Clean Water Act permits, the legal responsibility for complying with pollution requirements lies with the contract growers. The big corporations are off the hook, so they have no incentive for making sure that livestock waste doesn't pollute the water.
That's not fair. These huge corporations deliver the animals to an independent grower, prescribe their medications, provide the feed, dictate terms under which the animals must be raised, and then take them to the processing plant. They should also take some responsibility for making sure that their animals' waste does not pollute water. Making the companies responsible for the massive amounts of waste that enters our rivers and streams could be accomplished by having the EPA and state agencies issue Clean Water Act permits that identify both the corporation and the grower as "co-permitees."
Sierra Club and other environmental groups have long urged EPA to take this step, and the Agency's draft Clean Water Act guidance for issuing permits to Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) recommends issuing co-permits. But these wealthy, influential corporations strongly oppose this provision that would hold them accountable for their polluting practices, and EPA may back down and delete it from the final guidance.
Please urge EPA Administrator Carol Browner to require co-permits and hold corporate livestock facilities responsible when they pollute our water. Write her at: U.S. EPA, 401 M Street SW, Washington DC 20460.
For more information, you can also visit the Sierra Club CAFO web site at https://www.sierraclub.org/cafos.
7) DO A LITTLE OR DO A LOT
Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA04) is planning a full-out attack on the environmental movement. He is already trying to put together a committee to dismantle much of the progress made over the last seven years --- like the wild forest protection plan and better auto emissions standards.
To quote one insidious line: "What I am working to do is not merely reverse the damage done but to enable the executive branch to work its will to counter that entire movement and undercut their sources of power."
Ironically, he is calling the group "Project Evergreen." He has asked people to "respond with your suggestions via mail at the address below or via email at project.evergreen@mail.house.gov."
Office of John T. Doolittle ATTN: Joan Willis 1526 Longworth Building Washington, DC 20515
See also: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-03/08/144l-030800-idx.html
8) FIELD FEATURED ACTION: Montana EVEC Rollout
The Montana EVEC campaign got off to a great start on Tuesday, April 25 with a press conference at the Dude Rancher Lodge in Billings. Set to the backdrop of arustic fireplace and branding irons, TV reporters learned about the Montana Chapter's plans to highlight the voting records of the MT Congressional Delegation, particularly focused on Senator Conrad Burns. Senator Burns' chief of staff and campaign coordinator dropped in to check out the festivities, sat in the front row, and even tape recorded the event.
Kris Prinzing, vice chair of the Montana Chapter, explained the TV ads' focus on last year's vote by Senator Burns to overturn the "millsite"' provision in the 1872 mining law. This vote allowed mining companies to dump their waste over much larger areas of public land, resulting in problems all to familiar to Montana, where over 1,100 miles of our rivers and streams are already contaminated from mining activities and waste. Tony Steiritz, a young person who has dedicated his life to religious service as a Jesuit Volunteer, spoke to the religious imperative to be good stewards of God's creation, and to be active and informed citizens. Mary Wiper, EVEC organizer, provided an overview of the EVEC campaign and outlined future activities.
The press conference resulted in great TV coverage on NBC and CBS affiliates that reached 2/3rd of the state of Montana, including Billings, Great Falls, Helena, and Bozeman channels.
Today's Quote:
"Well-behaved women rarely make history" - Laurel Thatcher-Ulrich
Contents:
FEATURED ACTION: Sierra Club Kicks off Environmental Voter Education Campaign
REPORTS FROM THE FIELD: "Sprawl Costs Us All" Press from Around the Nation Regional EVEC Roll Out Reports, VA, NY More Earth Day Reports, AK
Featured Take Action
Club Kicks off 17 Congressional Environmental Voter Education Campaigns
On Tuesday, the Sierra Club kicked off Environmental Voter Education Campaigns (EVEC) in 17 states and Congressional Districts around the country in an effort to highlight the environmental records of Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and other public officials. Local Sierra Club chapters launched TV and radio ads to inform their communities about the environmental positions taken by their public officials, and to urge the public to ask their officials to take specific actions to support the environment.
"Americans care about protecting clean water, stopping sprawl and other environmental issues, and they want to know whether their public officials measure up on the environment," said Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope. "In the 30 years since the first Earth Day, we've cleaned up pollution in some very tangible ways -- the Cuyahoga River no longer burns, smog no longer chokes Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Congress refuses to tackle the insidious but less tangible problems still looming over our environment and our families' health. Our ads tell Americans whether their public officials are making progress on the environment or blocking it."
During the course of its six-month effort, the Sierra Club expects to spend $8 million on its EVEC activities. The Sierra Club EVEC grassroots lobbying activities spotlight the environmental records of:
Rep. Mark Udall (D, CO-2) Rep. Chris Shays (R, CT-4) Rep. James Maloney (D, CT-5) Rep. Lane Evans (D, IL-17) Rep. Dennis Moore (D, KS-3) Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI) Rep. David Bonior (D, MI-10) Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) Rep. Rush Holt (D, NJ-12) Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY) Rep. Shelley Berkley (D, NV-1) Rep. Don Sherwood (R, PA-10) Rep. Joseph Hoeffel (D, PA-13) Former Governor George Allen (R-VA) Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA) Rep. Jay Inslee (D, WA-1) Rep. Adam Smith (D, WA-9).
The ads focus on important local issues and places. In Michigan, the TV ad shows children cannonballing into one of the Great Lakes, and informs viewers that even though toxins are closing the state's beaches, Sen. Abraham voted against a bill to clean up water pollution. It then urges viewers to call Sen. Abraham to ask him to vote in future budget bills to clean up the Great Lakes. A TV ad in Washington focuses on the state's treasured salmon and on Sen. Gorton's efforts to pass legislation that would devastate salmon runs. It asks viewers to call Sen. Gorton to ask him to vote "to protect Washington's water, salmon and our way of life -- for our families, for our future."
Pennsylvanians care deeply about suburban sprawl, and a TV ad there informs viewers that "fortunately, our Congressman Joe Hoeffel has voted to provide our communities with the tools we need for smart growth." It asks that voters urge Rep. Hoeffel to vote for budget bills that help control sprawl. In Connecticut, a radio ad pays tribute to the great fisheries of Long Island Sound, and informs listeners that Rep. Shays is leading the fight to help the Sound recover from sewage pollution that has contaminated shellfish beds. Listeners are asked to call on Rep. Shays to continue his leadership to restore the Sound.
This year's efforts build on the experience of the Sierra Club's past Environmental Voter Education Campaigns in 1996 and 1998. In addition to launching TV and radio ads, in the coming months Sierra Club members in the EVEC sites will conduct a variety of grassroots lobbying activities: distributing voting charts and voter guides door-to-door, posting signs, holding rallies and conducting other creative actions.
TAKE ACTION: If you live in one of the 17 states or Congressional Districts where these 30 second TV ads are running, write a Letter-to-the-Editor of your local paper highlighting the candidates record on the environment. This print attention can augment the effects of the TV buy around the district and catch the attention of another audience through print. Remember, the next Earth Day may well be Election Day 2000. Thanks for your efforts to educate environmental voters.
REPORTS FROM THE FIELD: Sprawl Report Press from Around the Nation
On April 15, the Sierra Club released its national report "Sprawl Costs Us All: How your taxes fuel suburban sprawl." The report finds that taxpayers in existing communities often pay the costs associated with sprawling suburban development, and it documents the environmental as well as fiscal costs of suburban sprawl. Numerous press events were held across the country and the incredible press coverage and clips continue to pour in. Below are excerpts from newspapers from Cincinnati to Salt Lake and Louisiana to Wichita.
Cincinnati Post, April 14, 2000
Warning that suburban sprawl hurts the public's pocketbook as well as the environment, a new report shows how expanding growth has destroyed open space and increased pollution while costing tens of millions of dollars for new roads, schools and other facilities in Greater Cincinnati.
''The environmental effects of suburban sprawl are clear: lost open space, increased air and water pollution, disappearing farmland and wildlife habitat and increased flooding,'' Glen Brand, organizer for the Sierra Club's Cincinnati office, said at a West End news conference. ''But the subsidies that encourage sprawl are a largely hidden side to the story.''
The Times-Picayune, April 13
"Taxpayers don't realize it, but we are subsidizing sprawl -- directly and indirectly -- almost every time a new, sprawling development is built," said Darryl Malek-Wiley, a leader of the Sierra Club's New Orleans chapter.
The analysis is part of an ongoing campaign by the Sierra Club and other groups to generate political support for planning controls mass transit and fees that force developers to cover new infrastructure costs.
Stockton Record, April 15, 2000
Unchecked suburban expansion throughout the country is hurting the environment, raising taxes and draining taxpayers' pocketbooks, according to a report released by the environmental organization Thursday.
Tracy, with its hot housing market and surging population, is a prime example of what happens when growth is allowed to continue unfettered, Sierra Club officials said Friday. Roads are congested, farmland is threatened, schools are overcrowded and new jobs are few in a city where most people commute over the Altamont to work in the Bay Area.
"Sprawl is not only destroying our environment, but it is hitting us gravely in our pocketbooks," said Fi Brewer of Tracy, a regional conservation coordinator for the Sierra Club.
The Wichita Eagle, April 18, 2000
Wichita and Sedgwick County leaders, who are reviewing a plan for the community's future, have an opportunity to keep the city from growing into a sprawling giant like Houston or Atlanta, a local Sierra Club representative says.
"Controlling the city's growth would save taxpayers money," said Gary Wright, conservation chairman for the Sierra Club's Southwind Group, based in Wichita.
The Salt Lake Tribune, Friday, April 14, 2000
The Sierra Club lambasted Utah's proposed Legacy Highway as one of the nation's biggest tax-wasting road projects in a report Thursday on the costs of suburban sprawl. The highway, intended to parallel Interstate 15, would destroy critical wildlife habitat and pave the way for sprawl in rural areas, says the Sierra Club.
"Despite the redundant route, staggering price and serious environmental effects, Gov. Leavitt is pushing forward," the report says. "Roads lead to sprawl, and sprawling development leads to more driving. New roads rarely relieve congestion and in many cases actually make things worse."
REGIONAL EVEC ROLLOUTS: VA, NY
VA: The Virginia Chapter successfully launched its 2000 EVEC campaign on Tuesday at a press conference in a Richmond hotel. The event announced the launching of a 30-second TV ad that spotlights Governor George Allen's "dismal record" of enforcing water quality laws. The event was covered by the Washington Post, the Associated Press, the Roanoke Times and the Virginia Radio Network. A press release was also blast faxed to over 300 newspapers in the state.
Very short notice of the press event and inclement weather precluded a larger outreach event. But Sierra Club leader Glen Besa believes the campaign will get good press coverage statewide, and hopefully good TV coverage in Northern Virginia.
NY: For the NY EVEC rollout, the Sierra Club held a press conference at the Millennium Hilton to rollout our Rudy Guiliani ad with staffer Susan Holmes, a Riverkeeper Representative, and Art Garfunkel's wife as our "soccer mom." The 30-second TV ads criticize Mayor Giuliani for failing to protect New York's drinking water from pollution. Guiliani had already spoken about the ads at a press conference the day before, but still the event was picked up by NY Newsday, the NY Post, WNYC (NY NPR), Fox, and the Gannett Papers.
Alas, a few reporters were otherwise occupied because Rudy Giuliani unveiled a wax figure of himself at the new Mme. Tussaud's Museum in Times Square at the same time as the SC press conference -- apparently that was the day's big Rudy story -- Rudy in Wax!
More Earth Day Reports, AK
An estimated 500 festival-goers celebrated the largest Earth Day event Anchorage has seen in years on Saturday at Alaska Pacific University. As the crowds began to build, 44 cyclists participating in the Critical Mass ride joined the event.
The celebration this year was sponsored by the Alaska Pacific University Environmental Club with support from the Sierra Club, Anchorage 2000, Alaska Public Interest Research Group, National Wildlife Federation, Alaska Youth for Environmental Action, and Alaska Womens Environmental Network. Festivities for the day included community booths from conservation organizations and agencies, , used-clothing recycling, and drumming by the Northern Lights Drummers.
Sierra Club Knik Group members distributed materials and collected Wild Forest and Arctic postcard signatures at a booth surrounded by banners "Protect the Environment: For our Families, For our Future," and "Protect America's Arctic." Media coverage included stories on Channel 2 and Channel 11 news in Anchorage. Promotional stories were printed in the Alaska Daily News and the Anchorage Press and aired on the two public radio stations in Anchorage.
TAKE ACTION: Support Clean Cars
FIELD REPORTS: Washington EVEC Oregon Earth Day
TAKE ACTION! URGE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO SUPPORT THE CLEAN CAR LETTER
This April 22 marked Earth Day 2000 and the focus was on global warming. The biggest single step we can take to curb global warming and our dependence on oil is to raise fuel economy standards for our for cars and light trucks. Cars and light trucks alone guzzle 40% of the oil we use every day and spew out 20% of US carbon dioxide global warming pollution. By making our cars go further on a gallon of gas we can cut oil consumption and slash global warming pollution.
Congress is now having a district work period. This provides a wonderful opportunity to contact your Representative and encourage him or her sign the Clean Car Letter to the president in support of increasing fuel economy standards.
PLEASE call or write your Representative and urge them to sign the Boehlert-Dicks Clean Car Letter today! The Clean Car Letter urges President Clinton to "work with Congress to implement" the law setting automotive fuel economy standards.
Thanks to all the members who have already been contacting your Congressmember. Your calls are working! Currently, more than 80 Congressmembers have signed on to the Clean Car Letter and many of our recent signers have indicated that they have been receiving lots of calls, even stating, "All those Sierra Club calls have convinced us we'd better sign this." Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Unfortunately, the auto industry has taken action as well. On April 13, friends of the auto industry introduced a bill that calls for a lengthy study which will delay any current action. Tax incentives are also created which could erode current CAFE standards. This bill is not an approach to address environmental concerns, but is designed to circumvent fuel economy standards and delay action. The auto makers have realized that their "just say no" efforts aren't working, so they've decided to say "yes" to something. But what they've proposed is a wolf in sheep's clothing and will only further limit efforts to increase fuel economy standards.
Some quick facts about cars and oil consumption:
*Cars and light trucks alone guzzle 40% of the oil we use every day in the US -- about 8 million barrels every day!
*The average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in 1999 was at its lowest point since 1980, largely due to gas guzzling SUV's and other light trucks. The standard for automobiles is currently 27.5 mpg.
*The CAFE standard for light trucks -- SUV's, minivans and pickups -- has stagnated for 19 years. It is a low 20.7 mpg.
*The CAFE standard for cars has not changed in 14 years and was set in the original CAFE law in 1975.
*OPEC has once again reminded us that we are dependent on foreign oil. 55% of the oil we use is imported. The oil industry and their friends in Congress are using high oil prices as an excuse to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- our last pristine wilderness area. The Arctic is our Serengeti. We should dill under Detroit, NOT the Arctic.
*Raising CAFE standards will save more oil than we import from the Persian Gulf, can expect to get from the Arctic and off-shore California COMBINED!
Every year since 1995 friends of the auto industry have attached an anti-environmental rider to the bill that funds the Department of Transportation freezing CAFE standards. This is a back door gag rule on the agency responsible for studying and setting new fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks. With this rider in place, the Department of Transportation can't even study new fuel economy standards!
It is time to stop the CAFE-freeze rider so we can stop guzzling gasoline and slash pollution! Please urge your representative to sign the Boehlert/Dicks Clean Car letter. CALL OR WRITE TODAY!!
For more information contact jeffrey.bourne@sierraclub.org
Washington EVEC, Earth Day 2000 Events
Washington Sierra Club volunteers were very active this Earth Day with press events, tabling, and birdogging. The theme for their EVEC launch was Peter Puget, the explorer for whom Puget Sound is named. For the Friday morning press event, they used an exact replica of the yawl Peter Puget used when he explored in 1792. The captain dressed up in period costume and assumed the Puget character. Eight Sierra Club leaders, Save Our Wild Salmon's "Buster the Salmon," and "Peter Puget" turned out at 6:30 a.m. to row the long boat along the 520 bridge - a traffic-congested commuter route - during the morning rush hour. Thousands of suburban commuters saw the banner "Tell Slade NO back-room deals that harm water, salmon, forests." Many beeped their horn in support. KMTT-FM (a popular adult-contemporary station) reported the boat as part of their morning traffic report, repeating our message every 15 minutes for 2 hours. The event also drew print attention in The New York Times, Seattle P-I, and AP wire.
Washington's "Ironing Board Brigades" took to suburban stores armed with 5,000 fliers with tear-off postcards asking Sen. Slade Gorton to vote to protect water, forests and salmon in upcoming budget bills. 20 volunteers phonebanked for 3 weeks to turn out 80 volunteer who collected 1500 signed postcards first weekend; expect to double that today (4/22)
Sierra Club activists birdogged Sen. Gorton at the Washington Salmon Recovery Summit, a Senate hearing hosted by Gorton with Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Norm Dicks about local salmon recovery . 25 Sierra Clubbers turned out in force with banners, signs, Save our Wild Salmon's "Buster the Salmon" costume and the Slade puppet head. Activists distributed more than 300 Slade dollars: "dirty" money that lists Slade's top corporate campaign contributers and his votes that have benefited them.
More Sierra Club Earth Day Fun in the Pacific Northwest
Sybil Ackerman reports that Sierra Clubber in Oregon had a great time on earthday while postcarding in Portland for the Wild Forest Protection Policy. Thanks to the help of quite a few volunteers throughout the day we were able to get 1000 postcards signed. The week before the event she also organized a picnic to update Sierra Club volunteers about the intricacies of the Wild Forest Protection Policy.
As a result of the earthday postcarding and the picnic the Oregon volunteers not only have a bunch of postcards signed but also have a bunch more volunteers who are ready and primed to help us organize around the upcoming hearings.
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