Volume 2, Issue 8--May 4, 1998

American Heritage Rivers Initiative

Immediate Action Needed!

The newly appointed American Heritage Rivers Advisory Committee will be holding a meeting May 11 and 12 at the White House to create the list from which President Clinton will choose 10 rivers to place under his rivers scheme. Although touted as a "public meeting," the Department of Defense requests that advance notice of intent to attend be given prior to the meeting. Oral testimony will not be allowed, only written statements. Ostensibly to "prevent premature disclosure of their identity" the Committee will then reconvene behind closed doors to select 20 rivers.

This is one of the last chances to question the dictates of this presidential order. The President is ignoring the critics of this program and circumventing the will of the people and their elected representatives in Congress. The scheduled meetings are a sham to give the President and CEQ the cover they need to move this scheme forward. The Advisory Committee is made up of basic supporters of the President’s Initiative including individuals selected from The Nature Conservancy, Pategonia, Inc. and other NGO’s.

Although the deadline has passed to "opt-out," it will be very difficult for CEQ to ignore a Congressman’s request to stop this land grab. Ask your Representative/Senators to immediately send an "opt-out" letter to the President demanding that he not let the President, his staff or his hand-picked Advisory Committee ignore the will of the people or Congress.

Immediate action is requested:

1. Order Faxback doc. 275 for "Rivers Kit" which contains a 

2. Contact your Congressman/U.S. Senator to demand they send a "Opt-Out" letter to CEQ;

3. Have Congressman/Senator immediately copy each of the River Advisory Committee members with "opt-out" letter;

4. Contact each of the Advisory Committee members to register your opposition; 

No Congressional Approval, No New Refuge

It is expected that H.R. 512, the New Wildlife Refuge Authorization Act by Congressmen Don Young (R-AK) and Richard Pombo (R-CA) will come to the House floor for a vote within the next two weeks. The bill requires that Congress MUST approve any new wildlife refuge created with monies from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Unlike other units such as national parks, national forests, et al., these wildlife refuge creations currently do not require Congressional approval. In the past 32 years over $1 billion dollars has been spent on private property acquisition for inclusion in the refuge system. In fact over the last ten years alone 47 new refuges have been created without the approval of Congress. Under the terms of this bill, no funds can be expended from LWCF to create a new refuge without Congressional authorization. Faxback Doc. 273. 

ECOTERROR Hearings in Jeopardy

The long awaited US Congress House Crime Subcommittee hearing on ECOTERRORISM to be held on June 6-10 in Washington D.C. is in danger of being cancelled.

The problem is that too few WRITTEN requests have been received, and, unfortunately, the hundreds of telephone calls made were not properly tallied. The immediate need is for letters requesting this investigation.

Please fax to: Rep. Frank Riggs First District California     Attn: Julie Rodgers Exec. Asst. FAX 707-441-8708

This may be the only opportunity we have to expose the environmental terrorists for what they are and to gain the press needed to fuel public outrage. The witness list is stunning! 

Scientists Agree on Global Warming…It’s Hot Air

A petition recently circulated by the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine has garnered more than 15,000 signatures of physicists, climatologists, meteorologists and other certified scientific personnel urging the rejection of the Global Warming Treaty. They conclude the treaty would "harm the environment, hinder the advance of science and technology and damage the health and welfare of mankind." Faxback Doc. 272