MORE..............
"copy" & "paste" this letter onto a new letter from you individually.......... write a sentence or paragraph at the bottom to make it "YOURS" and send today!

If we keep up the good work they will have to soon see "we mean business"................ s.


Attached (below) is a letter signed by Thune (SD), Cubin (WY), Hefley, McInnis, Schaffer, and Tancredo (CO), Osborne (NE) and 36 other Representatives to President Bush asking him to oppose attempts to codify or administratively implement the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
The enviros are working hard to pass legislation that will enact the
Roadless Rule, and I encourage you to thank your Representative for signing this important letter. (Note if your representative has not signed onto this letter, ask him why not. rt)

June 5, 2002

The Honorable George W. Bush

President of the United States

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush:

We are writing to express our strong opposition to any attempts at this time to codify or administratively implement the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, and we applaud your leadership on this complex issue.

Mr. President, as your Administration continues to formulate an alternative Roadless rule, we urge you to diligently seek out meaningful public input, particularly from the local citizens most directly affected by the process. We also hope that you will continue to work with a broad array of stakeholders, including environmentalists, recreational enthusiasts, state and local foresters, the forests products industry, and other interested parties, in search of a consensus resolution to this divisive issue. Finally, we urge you to carefully weigh the implications of this rule’s impact on our ability to protect at-risk lands from catastrophic wildfire.

As you know, when Federal District Court Judge Edward Lodge blocked implementation of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule last year, he described the rule as "fundamentally flawed" and the rulemaking process as "grossly inadequate." He confirmed that "a Band-aid approach to something this controversial may mask or obscure the symptoms for political purposes but does not address the ‘hard look’ analysis for a cure as required by NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act] before environmentally altering actions are put into effect."

The Court validated what elected officials, local communities and forest user groups had argued throughout the process. Specifically, the Court clearly and correctly pointed out that the previous rule: 1) violated environmental laws; 2) disregarded numerous public notice and comment requirements; and 3) ignored the basic understanding of due process when developing and implementing the rule. Despite these findings, we are concerned that various environmental groups and certain members of Congress continue to push for implementation of the rule.

This case needs to be carefully considered in the courts, and appropriate steps must be taken to ensure that procedural and environmental laws are respected. Any attempt to codify the legally enjoined rule would be tantamount to a Congressional end-run of landmark environmental laws like NEPA.

Thank you for your leadership and your commitment on the issue. We appreciate your recognition of the importance of this process to citizens and communities in all corners of the country, and look forward to working with you in the future on this matter.

Sincerely,



John Thune (SD-AL) Richard Pombo (CA-11)

Scott McInnis (CO-03) William M. Thomas (CA-21)

W.J. (Billy) Tauzin (LA-03) Don Young (AK-AL)

Jack Kingston (GA-01) Gary G. Miller (CA-41)

Barbara Cubin (WY-AL) Mark Green (WI-08)

Doc Hastings (WA-04) Greg Walden (OR-02)

John Boozman (AR-03) Michael K. Simpson (ID-02)

C.L. "Butch" Otter (ID-01) John Cooksey (LA-05)

Jim Gibbons (NV-02) Chris Cannon (UT-03)

George Radanovich (CA-19) Mac Thornberry (TX-13)

Bob Stump (AZ-03) Bob Schaffer (CO-04)

George R. Nethercutt, Jr. (WA-05) Charles H. Taylor (NC-11)

John Peterson (PA-05) John E. Sununu (NH-01)

Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) Thomas G. Tancredo (CO-06)

Walter Jones (NC-03) Tom Osborne (NE-03)

Mike Ross (AR-04) Dennis R. Rehberg (MT-AL)

Jerry Lewis (CA-40) Ken Calvert (CA-43)

Joel Hefley (CO-05) Duncan Hunter (CA-52)

Wally Herger (CA-02) Joe Skeen (NM-02)

Randy "Duke" Cunningham (CA-51) John J. Duncan, Jr. (TN-02)

John T. Doolittle (CA-04) Elton Gallagly (CA-23)

J.D. Hayworth (AZ-06) Ric Keller (FL-08)

Kevin Brady (TX-08)