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- SAVE AMERICA'S FORESTS
4 Library Court, SE Washington, DC 20003 202-544-9219
INFORMATION SHEET
What is Save America's Forests?
Save America's Forests is a nationwide coalition of grass roots environmental groups, public interest groups, responsible businesses, and individuals working together to pass strong, comprehen¬sive nationwide laws to protect our forest ecosystems. The wasting of America's forests adds to other environmental and economic problems of air and water pollution, overthrowing landfills, and loss of taxpayer dollars and American jobs. Therefore, our coalition includes people and groups from a broad spectrum of society, representing related environmental and economic issues, and both rural and urban communities. Currently, we represent over 130 member groups and businesses with a combined membership of more than 600,000 people. We have grown to this size since our inception in May 1990, and continue to expand at a rapid pace.
We are working to create comprehensive solutions to the systemic problems of waste, destruction, and pollution that dominate our entire forest products economy. We are pushing for federal laws to protect our forest ecosystems, improve the financial security of forest-dependent communities, and convert the forest products economy into a self-sustaining; self-perpetuating system.
THE PROBLEMS:
There is a crisis of worldwide deforestation and ecosystem destruction. The U.S. must set an example of conservation by not clearcutting and wasting our own country's forest resources. However, current federal policies and subsidies favor the extraction and waste of virgin materials over the development and use of recycled and alternative fiber materials. This has caused problems at several levels of society.
Our nation is engaged in the rapid liquidation of our natural forest treasures: huge ancient trees, Sequoia, Douglas fir, oak, hemlock-and all the plants and animals living in our forests. Two square miles of public, virgin forests are clearcut every week in the Pacific Northwest alone.
Environmental Destruction: Clearcutting and even-age management of our public lands has caused species extinction, damage to water and air quality, increased flooding and drought cycles, destruction of sport and commercial fisheries, erosion and loss of soil fertility. It is estimated that as much as 66% of the woody biomass is wasted in logging operations on our National Forests. Two-thirds of the native ecosystems in Florida's National Forests have been lost, converted into monoculture tree plantations. In the Shawnee National Forest of Southern Illinois, the U.S. Forest Service is cutting down the last areas of contiguous native forest, critical habitat for declining migratory songbirds. Global deforestation is now seen as a significant contributor to the greenhouse effect and global warming.
Subsidies to the Timber Industry are driving this destruction. Most of the Forest Service's $2 billion annual budget is spent to clearcut our National Forests. Forest Service figures show that over 80% of their timber sales lose money for the nation's taxpayers. The destruction is not limited to the forests of the Pacific Northwest The incentives created and maintained by the Northwest congressional delegation have wreaked havoc on public forests across the country.
Loss of .Jobs: The timber industry disregards the welfare of their workers by overcutting and depleting the forests, degrading both the local and global environment, and undermining the economic security offorest-dependent communities. Technologically advanced machinery
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