Folks: Please oblige my blatant encouragement to support a local
environmental push to pressure the media, president, congress, newspaper,
public, and friends. Many people are working hard to save our last few
primary forest habitats. The sales are only 20-40 acres, but Clinton and
our country needs to know "it's our heritage, stupid." After walking
through some timber sales, one wouldn't think our collective intelligence
and soul has come to this. One can choose: forest rally, phone call,
letter, editorial, civil disobedience, forest hikes, e-mail, donations, etc.

-dean

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 6 May 1996 18:56:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dean Drugge <drugged at belnet.bellevue.k12.wa.us>
To: William Jefferson Clinton <president at whitehouse.gov>
Subject: repeal timber sales

5-May-96

President Bill Clinton
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500


Dear Mr. Clinton:

After hiking through three of the Sectoin 318 timber sales, which were
released for sale and clear cutting under the Salvage Rider legislation, I
strongly encourage you to make an administrative order to halt these and
other similar timber sales. There are some eight timber sales of this
type in the Darrington Ranger District on the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie
National Forest in Western Washington State.

The areas I walked into are not full of salvage timber, unhealthy timber,
or in need of cutting prescriptions under forest health reasons. They
are "primary" forests or old-growth, native stands. Based on landscape
ecology they need to remain intact so to not further impact the already
fragmented drainages of Perry Creek, Boardman Creek, and the South Fork
of the Stilliguamish River System. The Stalwart sale has 300+ year old
Douglas Fir/Western Red Cedar on a steep slope, butting up against a
cliff wall. This low elevation forest is ideal for wildlife protection
and nesting. The marbled murrelet and spotted owl are two of the most
threatened and highlighted species which depend on this particular habitat.

The Scraps sale #5 has a denser stand of healthy silver fir and hemlock,
with a few very large western red cedar. The slope here is more severe,
making regrowth very slow and prone to failure. The decaying trees of this
stand are very natural and have been naturally prescribed by the type of slope,
soil, and genetic base. This decay does not call for a cutting
management under the guise of forest health. Our disruption of this
area will break the equilibrium the forest is setting for itself and cause
catastrophic long term effects for this slope and the entire watershed.
If cut these forests will be useless to numerous wildlife for decades to
come.

Scraps #2 sale is surrounded by past clear cutting actions. It would be
fool-hearted to make this entire landscape void of primary forests at
this low elevation. Fragmentation is a significant issue currently, and for
the next century, following the fatal combination of greed and
technology. This particular area needs to be put to rest from cutting,
road building, and "management."

I urge you again to use your administrative option to release or "rest"
these destructive sales, which are blatant attempts to take out "green"
timber under the timber salvage rider. Our national forests have been
nickel and dimed for years. Our last remaining primary forests can be
saved for our children as examples of our heritage and examples of our
wise stewardship for the land. Since they have not been paid for, the
cost of preparing the sale can be reimbursed, not the millions of tax
dollars which has been mentioned.

I hope you see to it that flagrant abuse and ill-advised forest
management on our public lands, lacking scientific justification and
wildlife value, will be stopped.

Thank you for your time and efforts.

Sincerely,


Dean A. Drugge