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Grand Canyon Chapter Press Releases and Action AlertsNorton and Kyl Turn Public Event Into Private Exclusive PartyOn Wednesday, August 8th, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and Arizona Senator Jon Kyl visited the Coconino National Forest outside Flagstaff to talk about logging for forest health; once again, the public was ignored in the discussion and denied access to those responsible for protecting public lands and public interests. Nearly 100 Flagstaff residents, including environmentalists, the local 4-H Club, Forest Service employees, elected city and county officials, and members of the Navajo and Hopi tribes, took time off from work and assembled at the Gus Pearson Natural Area to attend a public news conference. As all these folks stood patiently in the rain, waiting for Norton and Kyl to make their promised appearance, the news conference was conducted secretly just a few hundred yards down the road, in an area restricted to media and "dignitaries." Members of the Grand Canyon Forests Partnership were there to promote logging at Fort Valley; Kyl and Norton were there to promote an agenda to increase public lands logging under the guise of "forest health restoration;" and members of the media were on hand to record the backslapping and congratulations. All those gathered to express concerns over Bush’s energy plan, the misuse of tribal water, oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, national forest fees, protection of national monuments, and, especially, extreme experimental logging in our national forests, or even just to see their "representatives" from Washington, were excluded. Not one of these people was allowed to even witness the news conference or shake hands with the visitors from D.C. Once the select few had given their strictly managed media presentation and Kyl and Norton were safely on their way out of the area, Flagstaff’s community members were finally informed that the Secretary and Senator had "run out of time" and would not be making an appearance. Please contact Jon Kyl’s Phoenix and/or Tucson office and Gale Norton’s office in D.C. and express outrage at Kyl and Norton’s no show. It is bad enough when public servants snub their taxpaying constituents; it is inexcusable when an advertised public event is transformed into an event for a select few supporters, a move disappointingly typical of the big business oriented Bush Administration. Please fax or call Secretary Norton and Senator Kyl immediately and express your disappointment.
page updated 08/09/01 Return to Press Releases and Action Alerts page Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633 |