The Threat
The "Healthy Forests" Initiative: Bad Medicine
A dentist would tell you that the best way to take care or your teeth is through daily brushing and flossing. If he told you that the only way to ensure you never had a cavity would be to remove all your teeth, would you visit him again?
The "Healthy Forests" Initiative takes the same approach in managing our national forests. A healthy forest has a vibrant and varied forest ecosystem, clear running streams, and a diverse wildlife population. The Bush Administration's version of a healthy forest is an entirely different idea - liquidating forest ecosystems to preserve their health - counter to what most people would call healthy, just like the dental advice is counter to what most people would call good dental hygiene. Here's how:
1) Logging in the name of fire prevention
The short of it: The Administration and the timber industry blocked attempts in Congress to focus funding and fuels reduction work (i.e., removing the materials that are most likely to cause fires) around homes and communities - the areas most threatened by fire. Instead, they pushed a bill loaded with incentives to log large, commercially valuable trees - the most fire resistant trees that exist - far away from communities.The long of it: From Behind the Smokescreen, A Report on the HFRA by the American Lands Alliance.
2) Removing protections for wildlife
The short of it: Under the Northwest Forest Plan, before certain federal lands are logged, agencies must look for rare and threatened species that are dependent on ancient forests. They are required to "survey and manage" these forests so as not to log what's left of those species' habitat. The Administration intends to eliminate this requirement, considering it an obstacle to logging what's left of our old-growth forests.The long of it: What's Survey and Manage? FAQ's by Doug Heiken of the Oregon Natural Resource Council
3) Removing protections for water quality
The short of it: Endangered salmon and trout, icons of the Pacific Northwest, rely on cool, clean water for spawning. The equation for their survival is simple: more trees = more salmon and trout. Trees filter out pollutants, prevent soil erosion and shade streams and rivers. Now, the Administration has changed the Aquatic Conservation Strategy under the Northwest Forest Plan so that Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are no longer required to guarantee that water quality and aquatic habitat will not be directly harmed by logging and road construction.The long of it: Salmon in Peril, A factsheet by Earthjustice on the NW Forest Plan's Aquatic Conservation Strategy. PDF File
Why is this happening?
One Word: Timberrrrrr! The Undersecretary of Agriculture overseeing the Environment and Natural Resources is Mark Rey, a former timber industry lobbyist. Healthy forest ecosystems get in the way of chainsaws. Therefore, Mr. Rey and the Bush Administration view a healthy forest similarly to how our inept dentist views a healthy mouth (i.e., just remove the problem altogether and it's okay!)
Our response
The Ancient Forest Roadshow is a response to direct threats to ancient forests from the President's "Healthy Forests" Initiative. It is the result of a collaboration of several of America's major environmental groups, organized as a public education effort around our campaign goals, and using the Doug as our outreach tool. People are also given the chance to "Hug the Doug" along the way to prove that it's really okay being a tree hugger. (It is. Really.) The Roadshow is supported by the dedicated assistance of a small staff and a legion of Roadies and volunteers.
