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- AMERICA'S FORESTS IN CRISIS America's Magnificent Forests
When Columbus arrived on the North American continent nearly 500 years ago, it was covered with pristine ancient, virgin, and native forests. A squirrel could travel from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River without touch-ing the ground. In the East, White Pine, Oak, Hemlock, Maple, and many other species of tree stood tall, the framework of some of the most diverse and complex forests on Earth. Magnificent ancient forests of Giant Sequoia, Redwood, Douglas Fir, Spruce, and Cedar were an unbroken band of temperate rainforest from California to Alaska.
Natural forest ecosystems are the foundation of our planet's land-based web of life; they are diver¬sity in harmony, habitat for the many plant and animal wonders of nature. They also create clean air, clean water, and many other things that are essential for the continuation of all life on Earth.
Since Columbus, civilization has waged war on America's forest ecosystems. 95% of our original forests have been destroyed, and the last 5% reside almost entirely on public lands that are owned commonly by all Americans. The past 40 years have seen heartbreaking losses on America's public lands. The rate of destruction increased when the National Forest Management Act legalized clear cutting in 1976. Now, our National Forests across the country are falling to the chainsaw and bulldozer faster than at any time in America's history, logged by private timber companies with the help of Congress, the U.S. Forest Service, and at the yearly cost of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.
End of Biological Diversity Coast to Coast
A founding purpose of the U.S. Forest Service was to reclaim lands laid to waste by
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