spectr17
12-23-2003, 03:18 AM
Forest Service to allow form letters
December 23, 2003
MATTHEW DALY; The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Forest Service is dropping a plan to ignore public comments from certain e-mail servers or on preprinted post cards, citing widespread opposition.
The agency had planned to bar "duplicative materials" such as mass e-mails, form letters and preprinted post cards, on grounds they added little to debate over forest decisions.
Civil liberties groups and activists on both sides of forest issues complained that the plan would thwart public access to decision makers and reduce the role of average citizens in shaping policy.
A spokeswoman said the Forest Service never intended to shut the public out, but was abandoning the plan as a show of good faith.
"We were concerned that people misconstrued it - that we didn't care about what they were saying when in fact that's not the reason why we put it there," spokeswoman Heidi Valetkevitch said Thursday.
"We were trying ... to make sure that decision-makers (get) as much information in as much detail as possible," Valetkevitch said. "You really can't get that from form letters as well as (you can) through detailed comments."
"We won!" responded Cindy Cohn, legal director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based group that promotes online civil liberties. The foundation had led a coalition of groups, ranging from the American Lung Association to the League of Conservation Voters and the National Wildlife Federation, that protested.
In a letter to the White House budget office, the groups urged the Bush administration to encourage all government agencies to accept and review all public comments related to government rule-making, regardless of how they are received.
Environmental groups and businesses increasingly encourage people who agree with their positions to contact the government through their Web sites. Many also use preprinted letters and cards so the public can easily express opinions to government.
"We think that allowing ordinary people to respond to the rules that affect their lives through things like online action centers is extremely important," Cohn said. "It's one of the benefits of the technology revolution."
Robert Vandermark, co-director of the Heritage Forest Campaign, an environmental group, said he was pleased the Forest Service had "finally found the on-ramp to the Internet. Now it's time they listen to public comments."
On the Net
Forest Service: http://www.fs.fed.us
Electronic Frontier Foundation: http://www.eff.com
December 23, 2003
MATTHEW DALY; The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Forest Service is dropping a plan to ignore public comments from certain e-mail servers or on preprinted post cards, citing widespread opposition.
The agency had planned to bar "duplicative materials" such as mass e-mails, form letters and preprinted post cards, on grounds they added little to debate over forest decisions.
Civil liberties groups and activists on both sides of forest issues complained that the plan would thwart public access to decision makers and reduce the role of average citizens in shaping policy.
A spokeswoman said the Forest Service never intended to shut the public out, but was abandoning the plan as a show of good faith.
"We were concerned that people misconstrued it - that we didn't care about what they were saying when in fact that's not the reason why we put it there," spokeswoman Heidi Valetkevitch said Thursday.
"We were trying ... to make sure that decision-makers (get) as much information in as much detail as possible," Valetkevitch said. "You really can't get that from form letters as well as (you can) through detailed comments."
"We won!" responded Cindy Cohn, legal director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based group that promotes online civil liberties. The foundation had led a coalition of groups, ranging from the American Lung Association to the League of Conservation Voters and the National Wildlife Federation, that protested.
In a letter to the White House budget office, the groups urged the Bush administration to encourage all government agencies to accept and review all public comments related to government rule-making, regardless of how they are received.
Environmental groups and businesses increasingly encourage people who agree with their positions to contact the government through their Web sites. Many also use preprinted letters and cards so the public can easily express opinions to government.
"We think that allowing ordinary people to respond to the rules that affect their lives through things like online action centers is extremely important," Cohn said. "It's one of the benefits of the technology revolution."
Robert Vandermark, co-director of the Heritage Forest Campaign, an environmental group, said he was pleased the Forest Service had "finally found the on-ramp to the Internet. Now it's time they listen to public comments."
On the Net
Forest Service: http://www.fs.fed.us
Electronic Frontier Foundation: http://www.eff.com