3/24/2004

From: alra@governance.net
Subject: Respond To Tiffany & Co Today!

Land Rights Network
American Land Rights Association
PO Box 400 – Battle Ground, WA 98604
Phone: 360-687-3087 – Fax: 360-687-2973 – E-mail: alra@landrights.org or
alra@governance.net  Web Address: http://www.landrights.org 
Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE – Washington, DC 20003


Respond To Tiffany & Co Today!


Don’t let Tiffany & Co get away with it.

In today’s Washington Post (Wednesday, March 24th)  (See Below) the Chairman of the Board and CEO of TIFFANY & Co, Michael J. Kowalski, paid for a big ad with a letter opposing the important job creating Rock Creek mining project in Montana.  

It is vital that all those concerned about access to Federal lands and private property in this country respond to this letter and give the elitist Tiffany & Company a piece of your mind.  

Here is what you can do to help.

-----1.  Call Tiffany and Co. for a copy of their catalogue at (800) 452-9146.  Call all your friends to urge them to do the same.  Hopefully, all the calls will overwhelm them.  If everyone calls, you’ll bury them in responses.  

-----2.  Send a short letter to the editor of the Washington Post.  Here are the instructions:

Letters to the Editor -- Editorial Policy

Letters must be exclusive to The Washington Post, and must include the writer's home address and home and business telephone numbers. (Letters via regular mail should also be signed.) Because of space limitations, those published are subject to abridgment. Although we are unable to acknowledge those letters we cannot publish, we appreciate the interest and value the views of those who take the time to send us their comments.

Letters Via E-Mail -- Send e-mail letters to letters@washpost.com   Do not send attachments; they will not be read.

Letters Via Regular Mail  -- Letters should sent to:  
Letters to the Editor
The Washington Post
1150 15th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20071

-----3.  Send a letter to Michael J. Kowalski, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Tiffany.
Tiffany and Co., 600 Madison Ave, New York, New York 10022.

You can also send an e-mail.  You must go to << tiffany.com >> and then go to customer service for the e-mail form.  You are better off using the regular mail.

-----4.  Begin to use Tiffany & Co.  as the poster child for how the elitists care less about family wage jobs and can afford to insulate themselves from the struggles most of us must go through every day.  Every letter you write, every speech you give, every convention and other meeting you go to, make sure to use Tiffany and Co. as a prime example where you can.  Let’s make sure the word Tiffany is used in everyday speech to mean people who are elitist and who fail to care about the average person.

The following facts appear to be clear.

-----A.  Tiffany and Co appears to be acting as surrogates for extreme green groups;

-----B.  Tiffany is not a place most people with family wage jobs can shop;

-----C.  Tiffany depends on mining for their precious metals.  Unfortunately, those jobs go to Africa and other areas outside the US;

-----D.  Tiffany tries to tear down the 1872 mining law.  This law is one of the main differences between the United States and other countries like the Chinese and Russians.  The former Soviet Union had three times the resources of the US.  Yet it never could compete for resources.  That is because of the incentives built into the 1872 mining law that helped the individual prospect, discover, mine and own minerals that ultimately created many jobs, much wealth and benefited the whole country.   That is how our society was built.

-----E.  Mr. Kowalski and his seven figure salary are clearly far removed from the everyday struggle to make a living that families in Montana face every day; and

-----F.  Mr. Kowalski and his company need to get the credit they deserve for their wealthy snobbery that encourages the rich to get theirs and prevent others from trying to do the same.


This ad appeared in the Washington Post today, Wednesday March 24, 2004.  It was quite large and probably cost Tiffany over $10,000.


The letter:

TIFFANY & CO.


To:  Dale Bosworth
        Chief, U.S. Forest Service

Re:  Preserving the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness

Dear Mr. Bosworth:

Given your previous assignment as Regional Forester in northern Montana, you know well the stark beauty of the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness area, a distinctive precinct of the Kootenai National Forest.  You are also familiar with the dispute over a plan to allow construction of a mine that would dig three miles of tunnels under those mountains so that copper and silver could be extracted over three decades.

Forest Service officials in the region have approved the Rock Creek project in concept despite vehement opposition by a coalition of local, regional and national conservation groups, along with the local business representatives, public officials and ordinary citizens.  The opponents’ fears are justified.

This huge mine would discharge millions of gallons of waste water per day conveying pollutants to the Clark Fork River and ultimately into Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho, a national treasure in its own right.  Vast quantities of mine tailings - a polite term for toxic sludge – would be stored in a holding facility of questionable durability.  Wildlife already struggling to survive would face new perils.

Other disputes of this nature, involving public lands administered by the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management, are too often settled in favor of developers because statutes and departmental regulations tilt that way.  The 1872 General Mining Act is particularly egregious example.  Enacted to encourage rapid development of sparsely settled regions at a very different stage in American history, this obsolete law virtually gives away public lands and the minerals under them to private interests. It remains a perverse incentive for mining in wilderness areas, near scenic watersheds, around important cold water fisheries, and in other fragile ecosystems – all of which are inappropriate for mineral development.

The Rock Creek proposal still faces some regulatory hurdles, as well as legal challenges in both state and federal courts.  As the process unfolds, Rock Creek may well become an important icon in what I hope will be a growing national debate over responsible mining policies.  That debate must take into account the reality that public land has multiple uses, and some of our most significant land should be protected from mining.  This precious real estate should be available to Americans with diverse interests including hunting, fishing and hiking in unspoiled areas.

We at Tiffany & Co. understand that mining must remain an important industry.  But like some other businesses benefiting from trade in precious metals, we also believe that reforms are urgently needed.  Minerals should – and can – be extracted, processed and used in ways that are environmentally and socially responsible.  Government and industry each has a role to play in shaping sensible measures to achieve this goal.

As this effort goes forward, I hope that we can look to the Forest Service and its sister Federal agencies for cooperation.  Three years ago, you told the House subcommittee, “The Forest Service should be judged by how we leave the land…” All of us who have any influence on how public lands are used should be judged by the same criterion.

Michael J. Kowalski
Chairman of the Board and
Chief Executive Officer
March 24, 2004



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