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Show From the Utah Environmental Congress... THEY CAN'T SAW THE FOREST FOR THE TREES. By Denise Boggs The Forest Service, under the Department of Agriculture, has been “managing” our National Forests, our public lands, for about 108 years. Until World War I they did a pretty decent job; they even called our forested public lands, "forest reserves." They were not managed for commercial logging purposes; instead they provided thriving ecosystems and were much healthier than they are today. After WWII, the picture changed dramatically. The baby boom brought with it massive consumption and an increased economy. The Forest Service began viewing our public lands as tree crops, and the raping and pillaging began. About 50 years later, the result of the Forest Service's handiwork is all too evident. We have tens of thousands of watersheds; compacted soils; many as the U.S. Interstate mudslides, and mass wasting threatened, endangered and sensitive species; denuded and hundreds of thousands of miles of roads--eight times as system. Our National Forests are plagued by landslides, of entire mountainsides. ‘Bee workers. For the first time, our forests would begin to be gradually restored while providing long term jobs to local people. The question remains whether or not the Forest Service is the appropriate entity to oversee a massive restoration of our National Forests. Could the agency once again manage our National Forests as "preserves"? Or has sleeping with the timber industry tainted it permanently? Considering the rhetoric that has been coming out of DC, it would appear the latter is the case. Perhaps when commercial logging ends, so too should the reign of the Forest Service. It could be replaced with an epiphany of “ologists": biologists, ecologists, hydrologists--those who would plana scientifically based, non-political restoration program to reconstruct riparian areas, rip out roads and re-seed them, plant native tree species, and clean up our watersheds. Some would say this is an extreme position. I would suggest the extremists are those who have sold off our National Forests for their own personal political gain, and those who would log off every last tree. There isn't much left, but what remains is vitally important to our own well being, as well as that of plant and animal life dependent on forest The truth is, the speechifying of the Forest Service is pure rhetoric. While the mouthpieces in Washington, DC claim management is changing, nothing on the ground is being done differently. The fact is, the largest logging projects in Utah history are being planned right now. communities. The time has come to end the taxpayer financed billion dollar per year farce known as the commercial logging program. There is not one legitimate economic or biological reason to continue logging in our National Forests. The American public has had enough and in Utah, the UEC is sounding the charge to end commercial logging. Denise Boggs is the Executive Director of the Utah Environmental Congress in Salt Lake City. YES! 3 I want to join the Utah Environmental Congress and to hold the Forest * Service accountable for its irresponsible timber. sales and other Management practices that harm our forests. | want to protect our ~==-Temaining roadless forestlands so that they may be designated as wilderness in the future. Rampant domestic livestock grazing destroys native grasslands and sensitive soils and is directly causing the spread of noxious weeds throughout the west. "Epidemic" beetle infestations brought on by the Forest Service's own activities have fragmented our forests into jigsaw puzzle pieces. Excessive fuel buildup in some areas (thanks to Smoky the Bear mentality) was, is and always will be wrong. Preventing forest fires was a BIG mistake. And we have the U.S, Forest Service to thank for this ecological disaster. Enclosed is my membership contribution of: O$25 O8$50 0$100 O$250 o$500 o$ Name In 50 years the Forest Service has virtually destroyed the biological integrity of our National Forests. They have simply "managed" them to death. And now the public is told they have learned from their "mistakes" and the Forest Service is headed in a new direction. I personally hope it's to the North Pole where they can't kill any more trees. The truth is, the speechifying of the Forest Service is pure rhetoric. While the mouthpieces in Washington, DC claim management is changing, nothing on the ground is being done differently. The fact is, the largest logging projects in Utah history are being planned right now. The assault began a few years ago and when no one actively rose to the occasion, the Utah Environmental Congress (UEC) formed. Address (801) 466-4055 http://www.uec-utah.org City Phone Number: Email: The Utah Environmental Congress is a 501 (c¢)(3) nonprofit organizations and all contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Please make your check payable to Utah Environmental Congress and send to: Utah Environmental Congress 1817 South Main Street , Suite 9 Salt Lake City, UT 84115 The UEC is working to stop the assault on Utah's forests. Simultaneously, we are working to end commercial logging on all public lands throughout the country. The UEC was recently elected as the Utah delegate to the National Forest Protection Alliance. The NFPA is a grassroots democratic coalition dedicated to ending commercial logging. At its foundation is the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act introduced by Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) and Congressman Jim Leach (R-IA). It currently has 71 cosponsors in the House of Representatives. The best thing about this legislation is that it provides a "win win" for all sides. The money that is currently budgeted CONTACT US VIA E MAIL AT: zephyr@lIasal.net THE WEB ADDRESS IS: www.canyoncountryzephyr.com to irresponsibly log our forests would be redirected into restoration jobs for local forest OK...it's New Year's Day ...2000...Y2K and nothing... e—_ no doomsday... no strange... a PRINTS WHAT DO WE DO? We write custom software for the big people and the little...OK...We take that real big file cabinet full of paper and put it all into your computer. 121 E. 100 S. #108 Moab, UT 84532 435.259.4384 800.635.5280 |