politricks and other distractions

Give Up Complacency for Lent

You don't have to be Catholic to give something up for Lent. I gave up Catholicism when I was 15, but this time of year still makes me feel like doing a little penance.

This year, I'm encouraging everybody to join me in giving up something deadly: complacency. Today's challenge, call your representatives in Congress now and stop one of Bush's many stupid ideas: the logging of burned over forests. (Now that I HAVE representation in Congress, this is one of my greatest joys.)

Basically, do you want this...


and this...

Or this:

And this?

These are all actual photos from the Pacific NW, your last remaining repository in the West of any substantial part of the Ancient Forests of America. Here's how it goes: a fire, which occurs naturally, burns through a forest. Left alone and given nature's clock, it takes time, but will regenerate. Trees grow from what's left of old trees. The necessary mix of different kinds of plants and trees comes back. Certain kinds of birds nest in certain kinds of burned-over forest. Grasses and flowers regenerate. Nature does its thing.

Industry says it just wants to go in and take dead trees, but as the photos above show, once they get the right to get into our forests, they go for the biggest trees for the big bucks. I've met former loggers who've been there when they put old-growth trees straight into the chipper to ship the chips to China where they get turned into pressboard furniture. Industry lies and gets away with it over and over. If you've ever seen a clearcut, you know there's no justice in the way our forests are managed. And nobody's yet been able to change the equation that a 200 year old tree is going to take 200 years to grow back. Industry doesn't give a rat's behind about 200 years from now, but you do, don't you?

Right now, a really bad bill is trying to make its way onto the floor of the House, and we still have time to stop it. It's the Walden-Baird Logging Bill, H.R. 4200. If it passes, logging after fires will be expedited across the country. The bill waives the National Environmental Policy Act and makes consultation under the Endangered Species Act optional for big business. This is exactly the kind of "streamlining" of our environmental checks and balances that the Administration LOVES to give to industry.

Without these ancient forests and the roadless areas this bill would open to logging, our watersheds will suffer more degradation and devastation than the last five years of industry giveaways by government have already brought about. Logging loosens soils that end up in streams. The soil in the water kills fish and other species. Since the trees are no longer there, the soil left in the forest heats up to temperatures that keep it from being able to do its healing thing. And I don't have to go into the value of trees for cleaning the air, do I? For more info, check out the Siskiyou Project.

I could go on and on, but I'd rather you just get on the phone now and tell your representatives you think keeping our air, land and water clean is more important than making the timber industry fat and happy. Replace logging jobs with forest restoration jobs and there goes the economic argument - which is specious anyway since the American taxpayer inevitably foots the bill for cleaning up what industry leaves behind.

They're taking away our future and our health. Stop them. Now. Before it's too late. Do it for Lent. It's certainly better for the soul than just sitting there!

posted by dcnative @ 10:54 AM