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The passing of a great
person and one of the greatest champions in the history of the
US forest protection movement…
Remembering a Friend
of the Forests
Jim
Jontz
It is
with tremendous personal sadness that I report the passing of Jim Jontz on April
14 at his home in Portland after a
two-year battle with cancer. Jim was 55. As both a mentor and colleague, I feel
that forests and wildlife have lost one of their greatest
champions.
Jim had
a fierce dedication to protecting forests and wildlife. Many forests slated for
the chainsaw still stand today because of his tenacity and courage.
Jim was
a visionary - he was always ahead of the curve. He made his mark as someone who
changed political reality, during his career in Congress, as former executive
director of American Lands Alliance, and in the many other issues he championed.
We owe
Jim, and the many other activists he worked with a debt of gratitude for
protecting so many of our national treasures.
The 1991 Almanac of American Politics described
Jim Jontz as “one of those incredibly hardworking and gifted natural politicians
… who has routinely done the impossible.”
And that he did.
As a
Congressman from Indiana, Jim took up the mantle to fight for
the Ancient Forests of the Pacific
Northwest. At the height of the destruction of old
growth forests in Oregon, Washington, and
California Jim introduced the Ancient Forest Protection Act in 1991.
That was when I
met Jim, coming back to DC for one of the many lobby weeks he helped organize.
The ensuing campaign
brought national attention to the liquidation of old growth forests. Jim’s deep
commitment to these forests earned him the support of celebrities
and others who
shared his love of America’s
national treasures. It also won him the enmity of powerful logging interests and
their supporters in Congress.
Jim’s fight to save old growth
forests probably ended his career in Congress. The timber industry targeted him
for defeat when he ran for a fourth House term in 1992, and he lost that bid.
But that didn’t stop his work. He took up where he left off as executive
director of the Western Ancient Forest Campaign, now known as American Lands
Alliance, in the fall of 1995.
As
executive director, Jim helped convince Representative Elizabeth Furse to
introduce the Rider Repeal bill in 1995 and then led the effort to document all
of the roadless area sales under the Rider. It was a massive project that
involved documenting more than 150 pending roadless sales. Thanks to the hard
work of forest monitors across the country the campaign published a report,
which Jim, with the help of allies in the national environmental groups, used to
convince then Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman to issue a directive canceling
157 Rider roadless sales.
At Jim’s direction,
American Lands Alliance initiated the Citizen’s Call for Old Growth and Roadless
Area Protection to support the efforts of grassroots activists working to
protect these areas. This petition, widely endorsed by conservation groups,
scientists, and city councils, is what brought to light the massive costs to
taxpayers of building damaging logging roads and ultimately led to the creation
of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation
Rule.
One of Jim’s
political principles was getting the public to tell their stories directly to
Members of Congress. Through his leadership, American Lands brought countless
activists to Washington, DC to press the case
for protecting national forests, and the clean water, wildlife habitat, and
spectacular recreation opportunities they
provide.
Upon
leaving American Lands, Jim continued to hone the cutting edge, helping to
create the Alliance for
Sustainable Jobs and the Environment, a group dedicated to bringing labor and
environmental advocates together. He was elected president of Americans for
Democratic Action in 1998 and at the time of his death was project coordinator
for ADA’s Working Families
Win project.
Jim
waged the hard battles and remained true to his convictions. His idealism was
rare in politics. He never gave up. When the odds looked grim and when others
may have conceded defeat, he carried on – it was through this tenacious energy
that he helped create lasting political change, and this change will forever be
Jim Jontz’s legacy.
Jim
showed courage in challenging times. He had a contagious optimism and an
unrelenting drive. Jim will be missed, but the causes he championed will always
bear his mark.
Jim’s
family has asked that any contributions to honor Jim be in support of any of the
following three charities: American
Lands Alliance, 726 7th Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003; Hoosier
Environmental Council Foundation, 1915 West 18th Street, Suite A, Indianapolis, IN 46202; or the Americans
for Democratic Action Education Fund, 1625 K Street, NW, Suite 210, Washington, DC
20006.
Randi
Spivak
Executive
Director
American Land Alliance
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