[pct-l] NOT bear cans

[Owen <jrowen@ibm.net>]

I just got this - maybe it'll clear some of the garbage off the list.  

Walk softly,
Jim
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(From the American Hiking Society Capitol Trails Broadcast)

A new bill in the House of Representatives will make telecommunications
towers "ubiquitous," including in national parks, forests, and wildlife
refuges. This bill takes the position that there is nothing more
important than a good connection on one's cell phone - not even
preserving the wilderness and natural qualities of our public lands.
Please contact your House Member and ask him or her to oppose Section
715 of Rep. Tauzin's Wireless Communication and Public Safety Act (HR
3844).

Under current law - the Telecommunications Act of 1996 -
telecommunications companies are allowed to site towers in national
parks and forests. However, they must comply with environmental laws,
such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and guidelines
established by the National Park Service, Forest Service, and Bureau of
Land Management to protect the natural and scenic qualities of the lands
they manage. This bill would change all of that.

HR 3844 would open up public lands to a grid of telecommunications
towers, practically eliminating the ability of the Park Service, Forest
Service or BLM to object. Over the next three years, over 100,000 new
towers will be erected. When consumers demand better connections and
more privacy, telecommunications companies must site towers closer
together - even as close as one mile - to access higher frequencies.

American Hiking Society believes that trails and natural areas can
co-exist with telecommunications technology. However, we must preserve a
balance between the needs of business and the lands Americans have
strived to protect for over a century. Please call or write your
Congress Member before Labor Day and urge him or her to oppose Section
715 of HR 3844.

If you haven't written a letter to your Congressman about the Cell Phone
Tower issue, here's an easy way to do it - visit this site:

http://www.house.gov/writerep/


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