The Act to Save America's Forests
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SENATE "Dear Colleague" Letter In Support
of Following is the "Dear Colleague" letter which the new Senate sponsor of the Act to Save America's Forests, Senator Jon Corzine, and three other Senate cosponsors, sent to the other Senators asking them to join them in supporting (cosponsoring) the Act to Save America's Forests too. |
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United
States Senate December 4, 2003 Dear Colleague: We are writing to invite you to become a cosponsor of S. 1938, the Act to Save America's Forests, a bill to protect our national forests from needless clearcutting, safeguard our roadless areas, and preserve the last remaining portions of ancient forests in this country. There used to be more than one billion acres of forest on the land that is now the United States. Over 95 percent of that original forest has now been logged, and less than one percent as in a form large enough to support all the native plants and animals. This land is under continuous threat, and if we do not act now to protect these ancient forests we may lose many of them forever. Our national forests also are under attack by clearcutting. Removing huge groups of trees at once creates a blighted landscape, destroys wildlife habitats, increases soil erosion, and degrades water quality. In the last ten years, over a quarter-million acres of our national forests were clearcut. Clearcutting destroys a vibrant, ecologically diverse natural forest, which is usually replaced, if at all, with a single species tree farm: tightly packed rows of the most profitable trees. This is forest management focused solely on economics, not ecology. And it is not the way to save America's forests. This bill is a balanced, scientific approach to forest management. It bans all logging operations in roadless areas, ancient forests, and forests that have extraordinary biological, scenic, or recreational values. These are our most fragile ecosystems and need to be protected. The bill also bans clearcutting in our national forests, except in specific cases in which complete removal of non-native invasive tree species is ecologically necessary. The bill does not, however, ban all logging in our national forests. It allows a method of logging called "selection management," which cuts individual trees instead of the whole forest, leaving a healthy, diverse woodland. Selection management is less harmful to the soil, less destructive to wildlife, and less disturbing to people who enjoy the scenic beauty of our forests. Selection management can be sustainable and profitable, as demonstrated by a number of private forests around the country. This legislation emphasizes biodiversity and sustainable management, allowing ecologically sound logging practices in some of our national forestland and fully protecting the rest. That's why over 600 scientists, including Dr. Jane Goodall, Dr. E.O. Wilson, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, support this bill. We hope you will join as a cosponsor of the bill. For more information, please feel free to have your staff contact Robert Helland in Senator Corzine's office at x44744. Sincerely, JON S. CORZINE CHARLES E. SCHUMER FRANK R. LAUTENBERG JOHN F. REED |