Today's action alert comes from the Campaign for America's Wilderness:
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote this week to prohibit taxpayer dollars from being wasted on new logging roads in the Tongass National Forest. Contact your representative today and tell them to VOTE YES on the Chabot/Andrews Tongass Subsidy amendment.
Call your representative today 202-224-3121..
Last June, by a strong bi-partisan majority, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Chabot/Andrews amendment to eliminate taxpayer subsidies for logging road construction in the Tongass. However, the provision was eventually dropped from the bill in conference.
This year, Representatives Steve Chabot (R - OH) and Robert Andrews (D - NJ) are taking the lead again to end fiscally irresponsible spending by reintroducing their amendment to the annual Interior Appropriations bill.
At a time when the government is running huge budget deficits, the Forest Service wasted $48 million taxpayer dollars last year to subsidize the timber industry's clearcutting of America's Rainforest. If the Congress continues its proposed logging schedule in the Tongass, over the next decade America's taxpayers could expect losses totaling over $1.2 billion—a hefty price tag for clearcutting America's Rainforest.
If the President and Congress are serious about cutting government waste, the subsidy to the logging industry in Alaska is a good place to start. It should not be the responsibility of American taxpayers to foot the bill to clearcut America's Rainforest. American taxpayers deserve better and so does America's Rainforest
Thank you,
Mike Matz
Executive Director
Campaign for America's Wilderness