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PPRC/ALC JOINT RESOLUTION ON "ROADLESS" EIS As the U.S. Forest Service slogs through its 300 public meetings on the "roadless" initiative-which attract heated pro- and anti- demonstrations, often at a single event-the American Loggers Council and the Pulp and Paperworkers Resource Council have published a joint resolution in protest of the Forest Service's characterization of logging- and resource-dependent communities in the initiative's draft environmental impact statement. It is, indeed, surprising the Forest Service, with its intent focus on public relations, should have published such foolish allegations: that mill and forestry workers are "uneducated and unstable," divorce-prone, itinerant, indifferent to their jobs and communities-and that the DEIS should have used this hearsay social analysis to support the proposal that zero harvest levels might somehow improve the lot of affected workers and their communities, presumably because it would force them to get civilized. Although Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck has apologized for this massive insult, its inclusion in the draft reveals the Agency's bias unmistakably-more strongly than ever suggesting the collaborative influence of preservationist think-tanks in the "roadless" initiative's conceptualization. PPRC and ALC are asking for a stronger and more public apology; disciplinary measures against the Agency staff responsible for the bigotry expressed in the DEIS; communication and sensitivity training for all Agency personnel; and a program to familiarize Agency personnel with "the crucial role skilled mill workers and professional loggers provide to America's economic viability and the health of our forests." PPRC and ALC also invite the Agency to join them in co-hosting annual symposia on "forest and community health." Return to Public Policy Archive Forest Resources Association
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