Defenders Of Wildlife



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		SEPTEMBER 9, 1998 6:55 PM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Defenders Of Wildlife Lisa Magnino, 202-822-5200, or Joan Moody, 202-682-9400, ext. 220

		Environmental Leaders Charge Senate Appropriations Riders are BackDoor Attacks on the Environment

		WASHINGTON - September 9 - Environmental leaders will update reporters -- at a press conference on Friday, Sept. 11 -- on the anti-environmental riders that members of Congress have attached to various appropriations bills, in what the New York Times has called "The Mugging of the Environment." Among the riders are provisions to gag government experts from talking about global warming, halt PCB cleanup in important rivers (a favor to General Electric), prevent the National Park Service from banning commercial fishing in Glacier Bay National Park, and delay modest efforts to protect federal lands from overgrazing and harmful mining practices. Having apparently abandoned the frontal assaults on the environment that characterized the 104th Congress, anti-environmental members are now using stealth tactics. Special interests that will benefit include: -- Developers: Florida barrier island lands, currently protected,would be eligible for federal development subsidies for new construction. A road in Utah would be built in a sensitive area to provide access to resort condominiums. -- Logging companies: Review of national forest planning procedures would be halted, allowing continuing timber harvesting.Western red cedar logging in Alaska would be subsidized by taxpayers.Numerous roads would be allowed to provide timber companies access to virgin forest areas. -- Pesticide companies: Federal action to protect children from pesticides would be delayed. WHAT: Press conference by environmental leaders WHERE: National Press Club, Zenger Room 14th and F Sts., N.W. Washington, D.C. WHEN: 10 a.m., Friday, Sept. 11 SPEAKERS: -- Deb Callahan, executive director, League of Conservation Voters -- Rodger Schlickeisen, president, Defenders of Wildlife -- Bill Meadows, president, The Wilderness Society -- Gene Karpinski, executive director, USPIRG -- Debbie Sease, legislative director, Sierra Club -- Marty Hayden, director of Policy and Legislation, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund -- Greg Wetstone, legislative director, NRDC -- Brian O'Donnell, executive director, Alaska Wilderness League -0-