WHAT:  Rally at USFS Supervisors Office

2800 North Ocoee St, Cleveland

WHEN:  Monday March 3, 12:30 P.M.

WHY:     Cause the Forest Service needs to hear from us!

Our National Forests including the Cherokee National Forest are logged for the benefit of the timber industry! Less than 4% of our Nations timber comes from our public lands, yet these are the only lands we can ensure will be available to protect wildlife, water supplies and recreation opportunities for future generations.

In December the Sierra Club sent 20,000 cards out to members throughout the Southern Appalachian Region, calling on USFS Regional Forester to fairly evaluate a no commercial logging alternative in the National Forest Plan Revisions ongoing in many National Forests in the region, including the Cherokee National Forest here in Tennessee. Specifically, we called on him to reinstate Alternative C, the closest thing to a no-logging alternative and one that was summarily dropped from consideration last summer.

To date we have 4500 cards returned, and its time to deliver them to the Regional Forester in Atlanta. As its not possible for everyone to be able to travel to Atlanta and take part in the  festivities, were doing the next best thing. The Sierra Club has mounted these thousands of cards on large boards and is trucking them around to the Forest Supervisors offices in Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia, before delivering them to the Atlanta Office.

We will meet at the Supervisors office at 2800 North Ocoee Street at 12 noon on Monday, March 3. This will be a great opportunity to get out and let the Forest Service know we care what happens to our public lands. We expect that the draft Plan for the Cherokee National Forest will be released about that same time, so this is our chance to call on the Cherokee National Forest Supervisor to do the right thing:

End the commercial logging on the Cherokee National Forest!

For more info, contact:          Dave Muhly (276) 688-2190 david.muhly@sierraclub.org