Thursday, September 8, 2011
New Mexico Congressman Plans to Defy Law, Cut Trees on National Forest

Steve Pearce says he will illegally cut trees on Lincoln National Forest
Contact: Bryan Bird (505) 501-4488

Cloudcroft, NM— Congressman Steve Pearce has announced that he plans to illegally cut trees down on the Lincoln National Forest as a part of Otero County’s emergency tree cutting stunt scheduled on September 17, 2011. If he makes good on this promise he risks arrest and charges of violating federal law for stealing and/or damaging government property. (See for example 18 USC 371; 18 USC 641; 18 USC 1852; 7 CFR 3017.305; 7 CFR 3017.405; 36 CFR 223.48; and 36 CFR 261.6).

“Cutting down trees on federal land without a permit or other contract is against the law,” said Bryan Bird, Wild Places Program Director for WildEarth Guardians. “Pearce should be arrested and charged like any other criminal should he make good on his political stunt.”

Removal of trees from national forest system lands without a valid permit is considered theft of federal property. Illegal cutters can face a maximum fine of $5,000, up to six months in jail and potential seizure of the vehicles and chain saws, if the value of the wood is less than $1000. Penalties increase when the theft of federal timber is valued at $1000 or more, resulting in a felony violation. Felony convictions carry steeper fines, more prison time, and allow for seizure of vehicles and equipment used to perpetrate the crime.

“It’s a mystery what exactly the Congressman is upset about,” said Bird. “Recent wildfires are a result of 100 years of unsustainable forest policy including logging and grazing, now combined with climate change. Does he think logging will change the weather?”

Congressman Pearce is attempting to join a renegade county in protest of national forest management in New Mexico. The Congressman’s theatrics demonstrate how far outside of the mainstream he is. Fuels treatment programs on the national forests in New Mexico are ongoing, including thinning and controlled burning. The Forest Service Southwestern Region treated 202,414 acres (76,661 in NM and 125,753 in AZ) in 2010 for high hazardous fuel loads and to date 87,438 acres (35,208 in NM and 52,230 in AZ) in 2011.

George Ellinger, owner of Ellinger Logging in Alamogordo, N.M., told the Alamogordo News on April 24 that Pearce is misinformed. “There’s a misconception that there’s no logging going on,” he said. “Pearce came down and did a big talk with everybody, but he’s not talking to anybody who knows anything.”

WildEarth Guardians will be asking the U.S. Forest Service and federal law enforcement officials to attend the event and arrest Congressman Pearce, as well as any Otero County officials, if any attempt to cut down trees on the Lincoln National Forest.

###

Congressman Pearce’s August 26, 2011 Press Release

http://pearce.house.gov/press-release/pearce-attending-emergency-tree-cutting-lincoln-national-forest

Contact: Jamie Dickerman, Press Secretary                                      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tel. 575-517-7382

Email: jamie.dickerman@mail.house.gov

PEARCE ATTENDING EMERGENCY TREE CUTTING IN LINCOLN NATIONAL FOREST

Otero County “Emergency Plan” Launches Local Environmental Resource Management

Cloudcroft, NM (August 26, 2011) Congressman Steve Pearce will participate in Otero County’s emergency tree cutting plan on September 17, 2011. Cutting will take place on one acre of the Lincoln National Forest near Cloudcroft in efforts to clean up the forest and decrease the spread of fires.

“This is an important day for New Mexico,” said Pearce.  “I look forward to joining in this effort to restore common-sense forest management to New Mexico. It has been an uphill battle to begin logging again in New Mexico, but September 17th will mark the beginning of increased public safety and local environmental resource management. Fires have devastated overgrown forests, and it is time to take back our forests and protect our families. I commend the Otero County Commissioners for their efforts to bring the power back to local government.”

The Otero County Commission voted in June to create an emergency plan, allowing the county to forego U.S. Forest Service policy and cut trees in the event of an emergency. They created an 80,000-acre plan that calls for responsible management to protect local watershed and prevent fires that have threatened Cloudcroft for many years.

Otero County Commissioner Ronny Rardin has spearheaded efforts to thin the forest around Cloudcroft. “This is not just about a tree,” said Rardin. “It’s about the fact that our county has been in a declared state of emergency for quite some time now because of severe drought. Our forest has been overcrowded for too long. We are going to show the world what an acre of forest land should look like.”

The public is invited to attend the event, which will take place during Cloudcroft’s annual “Lumberjack Day” festivities at 12:00 noon on September 17th.

###