Letter from PCU 3/24/95
PEOPLE FOR COMPASSION AND UNDERSTANDING
PO Box 27217 - Washington, DC 20038
202-462-0757
PO Box 6625 - Chicago, IL 60680
312-409-0018
24 March 1995
PCU // Freedom of Assembly Project
USDA Forest Service
Reinvention Team - Rm.910-RPE
P.O. Box 96090
Washington, DC 20090-6090
ATTN: Mr. Lyle Laverty
RE: USFS Dis-Invention, Senate Appeal
Mr. Laverty, Reinvention Staff:
We have raised strong objections to USFS authorities infringing on First
& Fourth Amendment rights -- in particular the formally proposed 'Group Use'
and 'Law Enforcement' rules -- and de facto policies of harassment and intimidation toward free assembly in the National Forests. These issues were brought to regional 'Town Hall' forums last Spring, and written commentaries were presented into the formal record. [Two letters attached, FYI: 5/24/94, 8/12/94]
We are alarmed that the "Reinvention" process has
apparently failed to
address the serious Constitutional issues at stake, or any
remedies. Your
12/6/94 report ("Reinvention of the Forest Service: The Changes
Begin")
evades them entirely.
For all your talk of 'openness' and the "organizational
culture" of the
Agency, the roles and actions of the Law Enforcement &
Investigation personnel
are not discussed -- as if such matters are above public
scrutiny, accountable
only to high bureaucrats.
The only mention of the Law Enforcement & Investigation bureau
appears in the
'Organization chart for the reinvented FS' (Fig.3, Pg.18): It
is connected
only to the Chief & Associate Chief at the Washington Office;
regional and
district Rangers would have nothing to say about these
activities, despite
being most affected in their relationship with the Public. This
is especially
outrageous in the wake of the 'Law Enforcement' rulemaking
debacle in May '94,
when the Chief had to withdraw that proposal in the face of huge
public and
Congressional opposition to such extreme powers.
Surely a "Reinvented" Forest Service would take heed of a
blunder like
this... unless it was no mistake. Now with Mr. Beazley's failure
to provide a
copy of the public comment Log based on Freedom of Information
requests, the
Agency apparently wants to bury the public record on this
rulemaking, and
ignore its policy implications.
We have parallel concerns over the persistence of the 'Group
Use'
rulemaking since May '93. With strong arguments against its
ecological and
constitutional grounds -- and two Federal Court findings against
similar
regulations since 1986 -- somehow USFS lawyers remain oblivious
and undaunted.
After a long series of delays in the face of public protests and
Congressional
queries, the revised rules are now in clearance review for final
publication
very soon this Spring. No cosmetic fixes in the language can
occlude the
basic flaw: Citizens do not need permission from the government
to exercise
Constitutional Rights; to say otherwise follows a dangerous
Orwellian logic.
Seemingly such concerns would be germaine in a "Reinvention"
sincere to
its purposes of public service... unless it is really just a
public relations
ploy. Claims of good intentions are meaningless if the real
intent is a final
government authority to deny Public access & stewardship on
Public Land.
Enclosed is our 2/14 letter to Senator Craig, Chair of the
Senate
Agriculture Subcommittee on Forestry, Conservation, and Rural
Revitalization.
It lays down key challenges to Forest Service policy and calls
for redress in
Congress, framed by this overarching question:
Is it the continuing policy of the Forest Service
to promulgate unconstitutional rules?
The so-called "Reinvention of the Forest Service" must face this
question at
its heart.
The good answer is to stop these rulemakings, open a public forum
and join in
a new dialoque and consensus on Constitutional Rights in the
National Forests
-- as rightly demanded by free citizens.
Response Requested... in Respect,
The PCU Volunteers /S.C.Addison, Planner
cc: Jack Ward Thomas, Chief
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