Ancient Forests Need Protection

EARTHKEEPING NEWS
A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY

Volume Three, Number Three
January/February 1994

CALL TO ACTION:

NORTH AMERICAN ANCIENT FORESTS NEED PROTECTION

During the Northwest Forest Conference last fall, President Clinton pledged to craft a forest plan that would be "scientifically sound, ecologically credible and legally responsible;" that would "protect the long term health of our forests, our wildlife and our waterways." He appointed an Ecosystem Management Assessment team of economists and scientists which drafted a plan with 8 options, varying according to the chances for viability of salmon and other management indicator species such as the spotted owl. None of these options allowed for the annual cutting of enough trees to satisfy the timber industry. The industry mounted a massive campaign to pressure President Clinton to base his forest proposal on logging numbers, using projected commercial demand, rather than on the requirements of sustainable ecosystems. The result was Option 9.

Most environmentalists decry Option 9 as a fake restoration strategy. The timber industry condemns it as a sell-out to the environmentalists. The stakes are high. Around the world logging and clear-cutting have resulted in destruction of irreplaceable ecosystems, rapid extinction of species, soil erosion, water pollution and imbalance in atmospheric gases causing unpredictable climate change. Our forests (lungs of the earth) need permanent protection.

The churches in the logging areas have very few environmentalists as members, and have taken no formal positions on protecting ancient forests. Those of us who see humans as conscientious stewards of, and interdependent participants with, all other species on the planet, need to act on their behalf in pushing for comprehensive legislation to protect the last remaining ancient forests and the biodiversity of their eco-systems.

The Native Forest Protection Act (NFPA) — A Bill that Needs To Be Introduced in Congress

Over 130 environmental organizations representing 6 million Americans have endorsed the key provisions of a draft bill that would end commercial logging of all remaining native forests on public lands, a practice which has cost the taxpayer many billions of dollars through publicly funded logging road construction, timber sale planning and other related costs. The act would also end the replacement of native forests with tree plantations that cannot support the same level of biodiversity.

Ask your own congressperson and senators to sponsor and introduce a bill to end commercial logging of native forests on public lands. For a copy of the draft bill, write or call:

Similar requests to create permanent ancient forest reserves, with no logging permitted, should be addressed to the President's close environmental advisors: