Forwarded by Jane Clark from Sierra Club Broadcast PROTECT OUR WILD HERITAGE - STOP LOGGING OUR NATIONAL FORESTS On April 13, 1999, U.S. Representatives Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) and Jim Leach (R-IA) will introduce the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act, which would eliminate the commercial logging program on federal public lands, promote restoration, and help communities that receive logging revenue develop a more diverse and stable economy. This visionary forest protection bill was introduced with 46 original co-sponsors (see the list below.) Please take a minute to thank your Member of Congress if they have supported the bill or urge your Member of Congress to cosponsor, if they haven't yet. Included here is some background, a sample letter to your Member of Congress and a list of the original co-sponsors: (Contact Melanie Griffin <[log in to unmask]> for additional information.) BACKGROUND America's first National Forests were established over one hundred years ago, and today we have 155 of them, stretching across 191 million acres -- an area the size of California, Oregon and Washington. But sadly, almost all of our old growth forests are now gone and industrial logging has turned our publicly owned National Forests into a patchwork of clearcuts and logging roads. Commercial logging has taken a harsh toll on the land, draining nutrients from the soil, washing topsoil into streams, destroying wildlife habitat and intensifying the severity of forest fires. 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. Several Forest Service studies in the Northwest found that over 70% of mudslides and landslides in some areas were linked with logging roads. Americans love to hike, camp, fish, hunt and canoe in our National Forests. And it's no wonder: with 4,400 campgrounds, 121,000 miles of trails and 96 Wild and Scenic Rivers, our National Forests are truly America's favorite playground. The Forest Service predicts that in the year 2000, recreation, hunting and fishing in National Forests will contribute 38 times more income to the nation's economy than logging, and will create 31 times more jobs. National Forests are our link with America's wild heritage. Although only 4 percent of America's old growth forests are still standing, 75 percent of them are within National Forest borders. And a forest is more than just its trees. More than 3,000 species of fish and wildlife and 10,000 plant species -- including 230 endangered plant and animal species -- rely on National Forests for habitat. Many people assume our National Forests are off-limits to logging. They aren't. In fact, not only is commercial logging allowed, it's encouraged -- with taxpayers paving the way. From 1992 to 1997, the General Accounting Office said taxpayers lost $2 billion on the logging program. More than 440,000 miles of roads now scar our National Forests; the overwhelming majority of those roads were built for the logging industry and paid for by the American taxpayer. We have a choice. Our legacy can be polluted streams and forests of stumps, or National Forests that work as nature intended -- filtering pollution out of our water, protecting us from flooding, providing wildlife habitat and a place for us to play and find a little peace. It will take generations for our National Forests to recover -- and that's if we start restoring them immediately. We cannot be timid or take half steps. We must stop logging our National Forests now. LIST OF ORIGINAL CO-SPONSORS Here's where we are on 4-13-99: 1) Cynthia McKinney D-GA) 2) Jim Leach (R-IA) 3) George Brown Jr. (D-CA) 4) John Conyers (D-MI) 5) Maxine Waters (D-CA) 6) Gary Ackerman (D-NY) 7) Robert Andrews (D-NJ) 8) Thomas Barrett (D-WI) 9) David Bonior (D-MI) 10) Bill Clay (D-MO) 11) Julian Dixon (D-CA) 12) Bob Filner (D-CA) 13) Michael Forbes (R-NY) 14) Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN) 15) Barney Frank (D-MA) 16) Luis Guiterrez (D-IL) 17) Alcee Hastings (D-FL) 18) Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) 19) Jerry Kleczka (WI) 20) Dennis Kucinich (OH) 21) John B. Larson (D-CT) 22) Tom Lantos (D-CA) 23) Barbara Lee (D-CA) 24) John Lewis (D-GA) 25) Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) 26) Bill Luther (D-MN) 27) Edward Markey (D-MA) 28) Matthew Martinez (D-CA) 29) Jim McDermott (D-WA) 30) James McGovern (D-MA) 31) Carrie Meek (D-FL) 32) Gregory Meeks (D-NY) 33) Major Owens (D-NY) 34) William Pascrell (D-NJ) 35) Donald Payne (D-NJ) 36) Lynn Rivers (D-MI) 37) Bobby Rush (D-IL) 38) Pete Stark (D-CA) 39) Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) 40) Henry Waxman (D-CA) 41) Robert Wexler (D-FL) 42) Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) 43) Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) 44) Bob Franks (R-NJ) 45) Michael Capuano (D-MA) 46) Rush Holt (D-NJ) ********************************************************************* TAKE ACTION TAKE ACTION TAKE ACTION TAKE ACTION ********************************************************************* Your Member of Congress needs to hear from you! Write a letter or call your Member of Congress through the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and thank them for supporting (or urge them to co-sponsor) the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act. You can use this sample letter and include your personal stories or local or regional info: DATE The Honorable Rep. ______ US House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Representative ______: I am writing to urge you to protect and restore our precious public federal forests by supporting the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act. Our National Forests were established over one hundred years ago for all Americans. These forests provide clean drinking water for communities, outstanding recreation for families and unexcelled wildlife and fish habitat. They have also given us tremendous scientific and educational benefits. Unfortunately, our National Forests are being destroyed by a money-losing commercial timber sale program. For the last 50 years the Forest Service has spent billions of taxpayer dollars subsidizing the logging of public lands and building roads for logging companies. This sacrifice of our natural resources has resulted in 440,000 miles of logging roads that bleed silt into fishing streams and clearcuts on steep and unstable slopes that cause mudslides and destroy wildlife habitat. It has also left taxpayers with an estimated $8.4 billion maintenance backlog on the decrepit forest road system. Our National Forests are national treasures and should be treated with management principles that emphasize stewardship and the protection of these lands for future generations. Our forest treasures should not be sold and logged at the expense of more tax dollars and damage to our environment. Clearly, it is time to protect our forests and end the Forest Service commercial logging program. Again, please protect our wild heritage by supporting the end of commercial logging in our National Forests. I'm looking forward to a response regarding your plans to help protect our National Forests. Thank you for your consideration of this important bill. Sincerely, ----------------------------------------------------------------- To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send email to [log in to unmask] Make the message text (not the subject): SIGNOFF IOWA-TOPICS