This year, as you mailed in your tax dollars to Uncle Sam, it’s doubtful you hoped some of that money would be earmarked to help cut down our National Forests. Yet every year Congress uses your hard-earned tax dollars to do just that. The federal timber sale program, which subsidizes private timber corporations to log nearly 500,000 acres of our National Forests, operates at a net loss to U.S. taxpayers of approximately $1.3 billion each year.¹

The effects of this corporate welfare program go far beyond the loss of trees. Forests regulate the climate and produce clean air and water. Logging destroys water quality by causing soil erosion and river siltation — often resulting in landslides and flooding — and contributes to the destruction of fisheries and the loss of wildlife habitat. Cutting trees on these public lands also diminishes the recreational, tourism and other economic opportunities available from the National Forest system.

The subsidies were created over 100 years ago to spur the development of the West and to encourage the transition from an agrarian to an industrialized society. The program was successful in that many jobs were created and millions of people moved west. Today, however, resource conservation, not exploitation, is the primary public concern.

Despite the fact that more than 120 million Americans recycle (more than currently vote!), federal subsidies to the timber industry discourage recycling and undermine local recycling programs. The subsidies make pulp from trees artificially less expensive than recycled pulp, putting recycled paper manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage.

In 1997, Congress members Jim Leach (R-IA) and Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) introduced the "National Forest Protection and Restoration Act," legislation that would end this fiscally wasteful and environmentally destructive government spending program. The bill currently has 76 cosponsors.

• The National Forest Protection and Restoration Act (House of Representatives Bill 1396) would:
•  Protect and restore America’s natural heritage by ending the commercial logging program
• Assist communities dependent on the federal logging program with economic recovery and diversification by providing worker retraining for displaced timber workers and creating jobs through a scientifically-based forest restoration program
• Fund development of non-wood alternatives for pulp and paper
• Save taxpayers over $300 million annually

As part of its national campaign to end federal subsidies that undermine recycling, the GrassRoots Recycling Network (GRRN) has joined the national drive to pass H.R. 1396.

Here in Colorado, Eco-Cycle and the Colorado chapter of GRRN are working with the National Forest Protection Campaign to build public support for this important legislation. Given that our state is home to many National Forests, we are expecting leadership from our six-member House delegation to protect our public lands.

Clearly, the American people should not be expected to subsidize fiscally irresponsible and environmentally destructive enterprises — especially on our public lands. It’s time for our elected officials to join the 69%-75% of Americans who oppose logging our National Forests.

To join the National Forest Protection Campaign here in Colorado, please contact Tom Weis at twgreenfire@earthlink.net or call (303) 245-8178.

1. From the U.S. General Accounting Office and the U.S. Forest Service Timber Sale Program Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1997.