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BLUE RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE LEAGUE
PO Box 88 ~
Glendale Springs, North Carolina 28629 ~ Phone
(336) 982-2691 ~ Fax (336) 982-2954 ~ Email:
BREDL@skybest.com
PRESS
RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 16, 1996 CONTACTS:
Mary Kelly (704) 656-8208
Pete Dixon (704) 622-3647
Janet Zeller (910) 982-2691
DON'T
CUT BLUFF MT. CAMPAIGN GEARS UP
Groups opposing the United States Forest
Service plan for highway construction and timber
cutting at Bluff Mountain are broadening their
public education and organizing campaign.
With the rallying cry, īDon't Cut Bluff !', the
groups have planned events which celebrate the
wildlife and natural beauty of the mountain and
activities which zero-in on corporate greed and
government deception.
Mary Kelly, an ecologist and veteran forest
activist in Madison County, is angered by the US
Forest Service's cover-up of the true costs to
taxpayers. Speaking about the Don't Cut Bluff
Campaign, she said, "It's up to us to get
the truth out. It's amazing what lengths the
Forest Service will go to hide the costs of these
timber programs."
The groups estimate that the Bluff cut would
bring in only $312 per acre while costing
taxpayers $543 per acre. The groups want US
Forest Service officials to be accountable to the
people in the
affected area. Today the citizens' coalition
released a letter from Pete Dixon of the Madison
County Forest Watch inviting Robert Joslin,
Forest Service Appeals Deciding Officer, to come
to see Bluff Mountain and meet with local
citizens before he decides to allow timber
cutting.
In the letter Dixon describes the groundswell of
citizen opposition to forest service plans:
"If the Forest Service continues to ignore
the overwhelming public opposition to this
proposal, it may fundamentally change the
public's relationship to the Forest Service for
years to come."
On September 14 Bluff Mountain advocates began a
new series of hikes and camp-outs designed to
solicit and train volunteers. Pilots from western
North Carolina are responding to campaign plans
for Bluff Mountain fly-overs. Volunteers are
going door-to-door in affected and nearby
communities; the goal is a neighborhood
opposition team in every hollow.
The campaign steering group has drafted plans for
factsheets and information packets, promotions
and advertising, fundraising events, a
resolutions drive, and expanded citizen-level
appeals.
The Don't Cut Bluff Campaign has established the
Don't Cut Bluff Defense Fund for tax-deductable
contributions. Campaign members include
environmental organizations, community groups,
chambers of commerce, bear hunters' clubs, and
other varied citizens' organizations.
-end-
Bluff
Mountain Campaign
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