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You protect forests by providing for their proper management and that means
timber companies have to come in and thin the old and diseased trees.
Overgrown brush has to be removed as well. The US timber industry has been
systematically attacked by environmentalists for decades in the name of
"protecting" our forests. Remember the "Spotted Owl" hoax that claimed they
were "endangered" and, in the process, led to vast acres of Northwest forests
being put off limits to any use?
They are still at it. The US Public Interest Research Group, a Ralph Nader
organization, along with the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, and the
Sierra Club are demanding that the Bush administration "keep its word to
protect 58.8 million acres of national forest lands." They are pushing hard
for legislation that codifies the "Roadless Area Conservation Rule" which
they describe as "one of the most sweeping land conservation measures in
decades."
It is a completely idiotic proposal. It is criminally stupid. You cannot
fight forest fires if there are no roads with which to reach the areas going
up in smoke. "Conservation", however, in Green-Talk means putting land aside
so that no one can use it for any reason.
The Federal District Court in Idaho has placed an injunction on the
implementation of this "roadless" rule that was developed in secret by the
Clinton administration and the Heritage Forests Campaign to deny access to 58
million acres of forestland that is the property of all Americans. On June
5th, forty-four members of the House of Representatives wrote to President
Bush urging him to resist any effort to enact the "roadless" rule.
Americans have been led to believe we are losing all our forests at a time
when many forests are expanding. The United States is still home to 70% of
the forestland that was here in 1600, fully 747 million acres! Of these, 247
million acres (33.5%) are reserved from harvest by law or represent
slow-growing woodlands unsuitable for timber productions.
There are 490 million acres called timberlands, forests that can produce more
than 20 cubic feet of wood per acre annually. The total amount of large-tree
standing timber in the US has increased by 30% since 1950. US forestlands
covered 732 million acres in 1920; today they cover 747 million acres.
The Greens, however, have set about finding ways to put these productive and
incredibly valuable forestlands aside so that neither the timber industry,
nor anyone else can use them. This explains why the cost of building a new
home or making an addition to an existing one has risen by an average of
anywhere between a thousand and five thousand dollars. It's not that we don't
have the wood! It's that the Greens will not let the timber industry access
it. It is nuts that the US is actually importing wood from Canada!
"Preserving and protecting our national forests for future generations must
remain a priority," said Tennessee Congressman Bob Clement," as he sought
support for the "roadless" legislation. Give me a break. We've got tons of
national forests. In fact, our national forests were set aside with language
that specifically made it clear that they were for the benefit of Americans,
including their full use for recreation and for timber. This is just another
Green plot to deny Americans access to and use of their natural wonders and
natural resources.
If this "roadless" idiocy doesn't get the job done for the Greens, there's
always the "Heritage Areas Act", (H.R. 2388) an equally hideous piece of
legislation that was just voted out of the House Resources Committee. It
would simplify the process for establishing "Heritage Areas" which is the
federal government's way of grabbing more and more land while denying
Americans access to it. The Greens would turn the whole nation into a picture
postcard to look at, but a place where no one can use to fish, hunt, camp,
hike, visit with a snowmobile or off-track vehicle of any kind.
What you are never told is that half the land of the twelve westernmost
States is actually owned by the Federal government. Federal lands comprise
86% of Nevada, 68% of Alaska, 64% of Utah, and 44% of California. The big lie
is that "urban sprawl" is destroying the wilderness, but the total amount of
land of US cities, suburbs, highways, bridges and other structures adds up to
a paltry 3% of the entire landmass.
Meanwhile, one day you will wake up and find that your home, farm or business
is now in a newly declared "Heritage Area" nobody bothered to tell you about.
Then the government takes it away from you because it's ruining the view.
This nation, this America, is being stolen from us, acre by acre, as part of
the Green agenda and because there are legislators who want to add to the 40%
of the nation already owned by the Federal government. You want to visit a
place where the government owns all the land? Visit Cuba, Vietnam or Red
China.
Alan Caruba is the author of "The United Nations Vs. The United States", for sale from the Internet site of The National Anxiety
Center, a clearinghouse for information about scare campaigns at
www.anxietycenter.com.
Copyright, Alan Caruba, 2002
Published by permission.
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