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Conclusion: Stewardship, Not Stumps For 100 years now, our nation has been engaged in a grand experiment. We have attempted to manage one of Americas most valuable resources for many purposes, to make our National Forests all things to all people. What lessons have we learned from this grand experiment?
From the anglers, we've heard that their commercial fisheries, salmon runs and local fishing holes are suffering from irresponsible logging on steep slopes and in streamside areas. From local communities, we've learned that safe drinking water and recreational uses of the forests don't mix with clearcuts and a massive system of industrial logging roads. It's time we listened to these stories and learned from these lessons. We must ban clearcutting and put an immediate end to roadbuilding in our last unspoiled natural areas. Increasingly, we are coming to recognize that our federal forest lands are far more valuable as intact, functioning ecosystems than they are for timber production. They shelter our wildlife, provide clean water and serve as Americas family playground. By the year 2000, recreation in the National Forests is expected to contribute 31 times more income to the nation's economy than logging and will create 38 times more jobs. Already, private lands contribute the vast majority of timber, with less than 4 percent of the nation's total timber consumption coming from National Forests. We must also put an end to taxpayer support of the timber industry. As the nation gets serious about deficit reduction, taxpayer-subsidized environmental destruction can no longer be tolerated. Expenditures on the Forest Services 1996 timber sale program neared $1 billion dollars, as our government paid for timber sale planning, overhead and road construction for the timber companies. In return, fiscal year 1996 timber sales generated receipts in the range of only $500 million none of which was returned to the Federal treasury. Instead, most of the receipts were funneled back into the agency's various off-budget slush funds for future logging operations. The timber industry should pay its own way on our public forests, as it does on private timber lands. Sierra Club members and other concerned citizens have worked for decades with the Forest Service, the Congress, the courts, and multiple administrations in an attempt to bring timber management practices into compliance with the law, and to reduce cutting to levels that would sustain a healthy forest ecosystem, with little to no success. It is becoming clear that our nation cannot achieve its environmental protection and recreational goals under current Forest Service operations. The mismanagement, hidden slush funds and entrenched political dynamics within the agency are too ingrained. The system is too broken. Ultimately, the Sierra Club membership has come to the conclusion that we must take the profit motive out of federal forest management if we are to restore any semblance of true ecological health to Americas forest habitats. Under the current management regime, there is simply no other choice. The only way to make sure our forests survive another century is to stop commercial logging on federal forests. Introduction |Water | Habitat | Government | Report Contents Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
From the scientists, we've learned that industrial commercial logging and wildlife habitat don't mix. We've learned that the clearcuts and the dense logging road system in our forests cause serious water pollution and lead to the extinction of valuable plant and animal species.