/\_Petitioning the AgSec
[ The 'Group Use' Regs mark their 2nd Anniversary... ]
[ A Gift to USDA Secretary Glickman, with a green bow: ]
[ Petitions, Letters, & Declarations calling for repeal. ]
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PCU_//\_Free Assembly Project
PO Box 5852 - Washington, DC 20016 {VM: 312-409-0018}
29 September 1997
Mr. Dan Glickman, Secretary of Agriculture
DOA Administration Building -- 14th St. & Independence, SW
Washington, DC 20250
RE: 'Group Use' Rules: 36 CFR §251,261
Presenting Petitions for Repeal
Mr. Secretary:
PCU is a Coalition of Volunteers formed in July '93 to lobby
Congress, appeal to Officials, and inform the Public on the Forest Service
'Group Use' regulations --
now the greatest threat to Free Assembly & Stewardship on Public Lands.
Over the past four years we have lodged a strong public record on
these rules, with solid appeals to the former Secretary, two former Chiefs,
the Undersecretary, and the White House. We raised scrutiny & held them
off step-by-step for over two years... Responsible Officials just hedged &
stalled, it seems, and took no real responsibility.
The rules finally took effect on 'Black Friday', 29 September '95.
We were right about what would happen --
-- Another Federal suit against the "Rainbow Family"... Continuing
roadblocks and 'proactive enforcement' on gatherings... Permits signed by
fraud and police coercion... Criminal charges across the country against
Citizens exercising 1st Amendment Rights.
The RuleHawks in the USDA Office of General Counsel and FS Law
Enforcement & Investigations seem intent on waging a chilling war of
attrition on peaceable assemblies. If their 'final solution' policies
persist, the troubles can only get worse.
The Administrative Procedure Act provides:
"Each agency shall give an interested person the right to petition
for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule." 5 USC §553(e)[1]
1. We hereby present new petitions containing 6,715 signatures, 33 letters,
and 38 Declarations mandating repeal of the USFS 'Group Use' Regulations
2. Further, we call upon the Office of USDA Secretary to take substantial
action,
in accord with "procedural rules governing the receipt, consideration and
disposition of petitions filed pursuant to" §553(e)(1).
3. Finally, we implore you to act with humanity, understanding, & respect by
rescinding these rules, reversing their harms upon Freedom and Spirit,
and restoring the ancestral Right to Gather on Common Ground.
Mr. Secretary -- regulatory power is not an end in itself, nor a
plaything for
police institutions with vested interests in new ways to incriminate
Citizens.
These rules and their intrusive enforcement protocols are
counterproductive to
the mission of the USDA Forest Service to protect resources, health, &
safety.
The views here are a fragment of a powerful public conviction, with more to
come.
We urge new policies promoting Cooperation on the Land, and not impeding it.
Respectfully submitted,
PCU Volunteers: Scott C. Addison
Judith A. Schienhaus
Susan T. Malkove
Redmoonsong
Attmts:
* List: "Petitions & Comments.../ 25se97"
* Constitutional Alert * Legal Update/se97
* Hse Jud'y Ltr, no93 * LLUR Summary
* Senators' Ltr, ap94 * Pressclips
CC:
Hon. Henry Hyde, House Judiciary Cmte
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