September 2, 1998

The Honorable Al Gore, Jr. Vice President of the United States,
Old Executive Office Building, Room 274 Washington D.C., 20501

Dear Vice President Gore,

We are writing to request a meeting with you to discuss our deep concern for America's disappearing forests and wild lands. As Congress continues to mount attacks on our National Parks, Forests and other public lands, your leadership is needed more than ever.

As musicians, our work reaches millions of young voters through radio, television and live performances across the country, and we feel a sense of responsibility to heighten awareness of the dire state of our National Forests. We urge you to use your power to safeguard our country's unprotected wilderness lands. Time is of the essence, and we are eager to help in this important task.

Many of us live in and enjoy the beautiful Pacific Northwest, a region still under siege by industrial logging. We have seen for ourselves the destruction caused by logging roads and clearcuts. Across this country there are already more than 433,000 miles of logging roads bulldozed through our forests -- enough to circle the globe sixteen times. With so many roads previously built, with so little of our National Forests left intact, it is time to end the "chainsaw welfare" tragedy that forces taxpayers to subsidize the destruction of their own National Forests.

In Washington state alone, there are roughly three million acres of threatened, unprotected wilderness. These are among the last of what remains of America's once rich legacy of wild forests. Protecting wilderness and roadless areas is key to preserving sources of clean water, wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation.

We are encouraged to learn that the Administration and the U.S. Forest Service are taking the first steps towards better protecting our roadless wild lands.

However, we urge you and the White House to include all National Forests, specifically the Pacific Northwest, in the proposed moratorium on new roads. Moreover, we ask that any new long-term policy be in keeping with the spirit of excluding roads and logging from all ecologically important areas.

Again, we call upon you, our elected Vice President, to use your leadership to protect permanently the wild lands we should leave behind for future generations.

Sincerely,

Pearl Jam

REM

Chris Cornell