The Mendocino Environmental Center and Forests Forever were represented by Joy LaClaire and Don Lipmanson at the Fifth Annual National Forest Reform Pow Wow near Taos, NM (May 24-27), which was hosted by Lighthawk. Lighthawk is the organization of pilots who have revolutionized forestry protection by distributing aerial photos and videos of forest destruction, as well as flying politicians and other influential persons over clearcuts.
Ned Fritz, author of Clearcutting: Crime Against Nature, led off the Pow Wow with a call for unity in supporting two bills currently in Congress - Rep. John Bryant's (D-TX) "Forest Biodiversity and Clearcutting Act" and Jim Jontz's (D-IN) "The Ancient Forest Protection Act".
The Bryant Bill would end the devastation of clearcutting and even-age management on all federal lands, including Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands, as well as wildlife refuges and military bases. It would permit only selection management, a more ecologically sensitive logging method.
Until 1976, clearcutting was illegal on federal lands. Since then, we have seen unprecedented destruction of our publicly owned forest ecosystems. The Forest Service currently uses clearcutting and even age management on over 70% of its timber sales, clearcutting over 60,000 acres of critical virgin forest habitat per year in the Pacific Northwest alone.
"Most Americans have the same misconception that I once did about the Forest Service mission, which I thought was to protect and conserve our National Forests. In fact, it is a timber plantation management agency. Under its plan, every tree on every acre of National Forest land not protected by federal legislation designating it a wilderness area will eventually be clearcut under current laws," said Bryant.
Ned Fritz helped Rep. Bryant create this strong bill, which will "prohibit clearcutting and other extreme methods of forest management to prevent soil erosion, nutrient loss, reduction of biological diversity, and loss of wildlife habitat, as well as end the degradation of recreation activities, hunting, and fishing."
The Ancient Forest Protection Act was introduced by Rep. Jim Jontz with well over 100 co-sponsors. The Jontz bill is a regional bill that is designed to protect some of the remaining, unprotected virgin forests on federal lands in Washington, Oregon and California. One of its weak points, however, is that it has no Citizen Enforcement provision, i.e. if passed, but not honored by the agencies involved, citizens may not sue to enforce. We need to lobby Jontz to include such a provision before we can fully support this bill.
Reports from the various regions around the country showed that forestry protection is alive, strong, creative and growing. Mike Bader of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies described the North Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, which would protect 15 million acres permanently, keep 13 million acres roadless, and preserve 1,000 miles of wild and scenic rivers. Rep. Pete Cosmire (D-PA) is about to introduce it.
The presentation that Joy LaClaire and Don Lipmanson gave on Forests Forever was well received, although it focused on private and state lands rather than National Forest. Many people approached them afterwards to discuss similar problems in their own regions. As Joy stated to a question from the audience about jurisdictional problems,
"In approaching forests as whole ecosystems, we acknowledge that a spotted owl doesn't know from private, state or federal boundaries. We must protect habitat, no matter who controls it." She answered concerns about overcuts occurring elsewhere as a result of limiting cuts in the Northwest by saying, "We must just work hard to see that it isn't allowed to happen."
Jeff DeBonis, founder of the Association of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, stressed that only 14% of the wood used in the U.S. comes from National Forest land. He said that a 27% increase in usable wood was feasible if efficiency were improved by methods currently used by the Japanese, such as thinner saw blades, double sided copying at the consumer level, more effective use of wood in building, etc. He also said that the Forest Service lost $500,000,000 in 1990 - 2/3 of all timber sales lost money. He said we must cut the subsidies to the logging industry and create incentives for the FS to manage properly.
The trend towards chip mills in the South East is alarming. Cuts are expected to double. We are working with local activists there, sharing our experiences to help them resist this.
The conference was invaluable for making new contacts, exchanging information and reaffirming our strength and unity in protecting our ancient forests. For more information call Joy or Don at 895-2043.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2004
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