a federal wildlife refuge is getting logged out. How can this be stopped?

[dumdum]

the federal wildlife refuge [bayou cocodria] located near Ferriday LA. states in it's pamphlet that it contains the last bottom land hardwoods in LA. However. they have started logging operations in it. These hardwoods will not grow back during our lifetime or our childrens lifetime. How can this be stopped?

[koolksmart55]

Petitions.

[Kels]

Thats horrible. Yah, like the other guy said, I think the only way is to petition it. I hope it all works out

[Amy]

An old fashioned protest sounds fun, but it is impractical. Write letters to your local representatives, your mayor, other environmental groups, and anyone else you think either has an interest or has the power to stop this. Get a lot of other people involved-alot of elected officials vote by the number of emails they receive from their constituents rather then a thorough reading of the bill.

[cokezero100]

Not as long as Mr bushwackerbrain is in the oval office.

[hypofocus]

Get in touch with:

louisiana.sierraclub.org

If they aren't working on it, ask them to, or ask them how you can do it yourself.

[SARAH C]

Call the governor
Call the press
Invite a presidential candidate or two down to complain

Bayous are wetlands. Contact every wetland preservation group you can find because hauling those trees out will mess up more than just the trees in the bayou.

Find out what company is getting the timber. Call their office and complain. Find their website and register your disapproval. See if anyone you know or any retirement funds of you or your older relatives are invested in stock for that company. Contact investment firms that handle those retirement funds and complain about the company's short-sighted practices. (Don't talk green here, except money-green.)

Contact the company's board of directors and tell them 1) what is happening and 2) to read the Harvard Business Review (Get the last few month's copes and read them so you know what you're talking about.) the competitive advantage of environmentalism. Practice saying that until it flows off your tongue.

Find out what they're planning to do with the timber (The company may tell you as they explain why they just Have to cut down Those trees.) Contact the buyers and complain. If you can't find the specific buyers, research this company's usual customers are and complain to them. Let's say you find it's "Big Mean Contractors." Then you find out who buys houses or office buildings from "Big Mean Contractors" and complain to them; say you do not want to buy a house or do business in a building that made such wasteful use of an important natural resource from the bayou. (Obviously, you'll have to sound like an adult to pull the "buy a house" thing off.)

Keep going up the chain of potential customers for that wood. Get some friends or fellow zealors to help you do the Internet searches and calling. (Get a shy friend to let you use his/her minutes on a cell phone.) Check out myspace and facebook for any kids/grandkids of the officers of the company doing the cutting and appeal to them. How're you going to find them? Well, some companies have puff pieces about how family-oriented their leaders are. Use search engines to find names and families.

Don't call these folks at home--that's too much like stalking and could get you into trouble.
You can look for a myspace or facebook connection in the towns where the corporate office is and see what, if anything, that person might do, like make lots of local calls or call their local TV station or paper. For that matter, you can contact the paper or station yourself. If you, even one person, is going after a corporation that's illegally or immorally logging, that's local news.

Never use foul language, but if any's used on you, write down who said it, the day and time and exactly what they said. Then you can quote it to someone up or down the chain of use for those trees that you've put together.