The Trump administration is stealthily trying to decimate our natural heritage, our National Forests. The Forest Service proposed a rule on June 13, 2019 which will bypass the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and allow up to 4,200 acres of clear-cutting without any public involvement. This is over 6 square miles!!! Public comment on this proposal closes this coming Monday, August 12, 2019. I urge everyone who cares that our forests are protected comment here: https://actnow.io/SDHxzru
History has conveniently been rewritten about our National Forests, which were originally supposed to be about forest reserves for all Americans and grew from concern about forest decimation. Somehow (I suspect by greedy timber companies, road-builders, miners and frackers, etc.), through the years, the Forest Service mission has changed to manage our forests for “multiple uses.” A major fallacy that has developed is that our National Forests exist for timber production. This is WRONG. There is much private land where the landowners’ motto seems to be “Leave No Tree Standing.” As a forest dweller and landowner, who manages our meager corner of the forest for conservation, we want to protect and preserve what is here, but many of our neighbors are willing to and have clear-cut their irreplaceable forested property for a quick buck.
I urge you to please comment before Monday:
https://actnow.io/SDHxzru
Note: this diary was written after reading the New York Times Opinion article 8/7/19 by Sam Evans, Southern Environmental Law Center which can be found here: Why Is the Forest Service Trying to Evade the Public?