End Commercial Logging

Over the past decade it has become clear that we must permanently end the commercial timber sale program, and establish a restoration program to restore past damage from logging and roadbuilding. Hence was born the End Commercial Logging campaign, a political and grassroots effort to find a legislative solution to the destructive logging that occurs on National Forests.

The solution is the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act (H.R. 1494), sponsored by Representatives Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) and Jim Leach (R-IA), currently at 112 cosponsors and counting in the House of Representatives. (Note: Representative McKinney is leaving Congress starting 2003, stay tuned for developments about a new lead sponsor.) This bill also redirects our tax dollars toward forest restoration programs that will restore damaged streams, rivers and watersheds.

Other portions of the redirected logging subsidies would provide funds for worker retraining and give preference to displaced timber workers for jobs in the woods doing ecological restoration. The National Forest Protection and Restoration Act will permanently protect our National Forests and set the Forest Service on a new mission of restoration and stewardship for the next century. As more members of Congress cosponsor NFPRA, it immediately strengthens the forest protection movement by showing would-be opponents of National Forests that strong support for protection exists.

ECOS works to build support for this legislation, and bring the era of destruction on our National Forests to an end. We are sending a message to the Forest Service that we want our forests protected, and fighting the efforts of the opponents of forest protection to pass bad legislation that would weaken the protections for our National Forests.

You can help protect our National Forests by:

1. Calling Representative Jim Matheson at (202) 225-3011, and telling him to support the full protection of our National Forests from commercial logging. Tell him to also oppose any legislation that would increase logging on our National Forests.
2. Signing up for ECOS!