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Breaking News from America's Progressive Community... Latest Releases
Making news?
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| SEPTEMBER
29 , 1998 12:59 PM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Sierra Club Melanie Griffin 202-675-6273 Holly Minch 202-675-7903 Rene Voss 202-255-3351 |
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| Sierra Club Honors Biparisan Team For Their Leadership In Protecting America's Forests; Reps. Jim Leach (R-IA), Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) Receive Sierra Club's Highest Award for Public Officials | ||||
| WASHINGTON
- September 29 - Sierra Club today announced the prestigious 1998 "Edgar Wayburn
Award" for outstanding environmental leadership by public officials will be awarded
to the bi-partisan team of Representatives Jim Leach (R-IA) and Cynthia McKinney (D-GA).
The team is being recognized for their introduction of the National Forest
Protection and Restoration Act (H.R. 2789), a bill that would protect federal public lands
from all commercial logging while re-directing logging subsidies to worker retraining and
ecological restoration. "What our Congress needs is more environmental heroes like Representatives Leach and McKinney who understand that the American people want to see our public forests left standing to protect watersheds, fisheries and wildlife habitat, and to meet the enormous demands for outdoor recreation," noted Chuck McGrady, Sierra Club President. "Congressional leadership should follow the example set by Representatives McKinney and Leach, instead of allowing our forests to be chopped down to boost timber industry profits at a tremendous cost to American taxpayers." Public support for an end to commercial logging in our federal public forests is confirmed by a new national poll conducted by Market Strategies, Inc. and Lake, Snell, Perry, and Associates, Inc. The poll shows that 69% said they "oppose continuing to allow timber companies to log in our National Forests." Even in western states, traditionally thought of as strongly supportive of resource extraction industries, the public supported ending commercial logging on public lands by a margin of 2 to 1. A Sierra Club report released this year showed taxpayer losses due to timber industry subsidies to be over $1 billion per year, an estimate the Congressional Research Service has called "reasonable." It is estimated that the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act will save taxpayers over $300 million annually. "At a time when many in Congress are trying to undermine existing environmental laws that protect our forests through stealthy backdoor provisions buried in massive budget bills, Representatives Leach and McKinney have shown true bi-partisan leadership in support of our environment and American taxpayers," said Chuck McGrady, President of the Sierra Club. Many are predicting a repeat of the budget showdown that shut down the government two years ago, largely over the dozens of anti-environmental riders contained in this year's annual appropriations bills. This year marks the first time that the Edgar Wayburn Award has been shared by two public officials. Past recipients of the Edgar Wayburn Award include Carol Browner (1995), Sherwood L. Boehlert (1996), and Barbara Boxer (1997). ### |
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