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Protection | Fire | Communities | Take Action  America's
first National Forests were established more than one hundred years
ago, and today we have 155 of them, stretching across 191 million
acres. Although almost all of our original old-growth forests are
gone, three-fourths of what remain are within National Forest borders.
Many people assume our National Forests are off-limits to logging.
They aren't. Not only is commercial logging allowed, it's encouraged-with
your taxes paying the way. The Forest Service logging program is
subsidized by taxpayers and operates at a huge loss. In addition
to the loss incurred by timber sales in the National Forests, taxpayers
also face the cost of environmental cleanup of the areas damaged
by logging. Americans love to hike, camp, fish, hunt and canoe in National
Forests. And it's no wonder: Hunting and fishing generate 2.9 million jobs a year. There are consistently more jobs, more income and more public revenues associated with forest protection. On the state level, forest protection is directly related to economic gain. New businesses are drawn to forested regions seeking the quality of life that a scenic and healthy environment provides. Healthy forests purify drinking water, stabilize hillsides and protect us from floods. Hillsides with clearcuts or logging roads lose their ability to absorb heavy rains. Forest Service studies in the Northwest found that more than 70% of mudslides and landslides in some areas were linked with logging roads. More than 80% of the nation's drinking water supply originates in National Forests. A forest with decommissioned roads and healthy stream banks provides benefits such as high quality water, improved habitat for fish and wildlife, and improved quality of life. In addition, numerous studies have found that restoration programs can help meet the needs or rural communities. For example, one report found that every $1 million spent on removing roads and restoring the land underneath them creates 33 jobs. America's forests are under attack from the Bush Administration. Recent anti-forest conservation proposals have included whittling away at protective regulations and rules about roads, like reducing the amount of time scientists have to study forest wildlife to determine logging impacts. For more information about the Bush Administration's assault on America's forests, click here. Click here to see how you can make a difference.
Fire is a natural part of the forest and has a role to play in any forest's lifecycle by clearing out brush and restoring nutrients to the soil. But years of overly aggressive fire suppression have left many of our National Forests cluttered with small, highly flammable brush. Overly aggressive fire suppression and extensive logging have created unnatural conditions that lead to huge, hard-to-control fires The Sierra Club strongly supports prescribed burns as a way to restore fire's natural role to the forest. Sierra Club supports fuel reduction projects near homes and communities. For a decade the Sierra Club has been urging the Forest Service to do more prescribed burning, reduce flammable brush near communities and we've been asking Congress to devote more money to do the job right. The Forest Service should stop pushing for commercial logging and put more resources towards protecting lives and communities. Every community at risk deserves to be protected. If the Forest Service focuses enough resources and manpower on the job, and gives this mission top priority, we can make communities safer in five years. Communities need three kinds of measures:
Click here to see how you can make a difference. Photo courtesy Chuck Pezeshki/Sierra Club Collection; all rights reserved. Up to Top |
