Statement by Tom Pelikan at a press conference in support of the Forest service's Roadless Initiative. This statement was delivered at a press conference in support of the US Forest Service's Roadless Initiative in Washington, D.C. on May 1, 2001. My name is Tom Pelikan. I serve on the board of directors of REP America, the national grassroots organization of Republicans for environmental protection. I'm here to talk about Roadless and Republican values.
Republicans believe in sound economics .
The old system of building taxpayer-funded roads in our national forests for a handful of logging companies was so wasteful that Richard Nixon proposed scrapping it 30 years ago. Roadless gives the good men and women working in the Forest Service a chance to get its fiscal house in order. THAT is a Republican value. Republicans believe in a government that listens to its citizens . Nobody had to hire a lobbyist to come here to get their point across.