The Act to Save America's Forests was first introduced in both Houses of the U.S. Congress in 1997. The Act will end clearcutting on all federal lands and stop logging and roadbuilding in the last wild, roadless and Ancient forests. It will require our federal forest agencies to restore the native biological diversity on our National Forests. Tell your senators and representative to support this historic legislation!

It is beginning to look like our only hope for Giant Sequoia National Monument protection is the passing of the Act to Save America’s Forests (S. 1897), which would remove the Giant Sequoia National Monument from Forest Service control, and place it in the care of the National Park Service, which is the appropriate agency to care for national parks and monuments.  The Act to Save America’s Forests, introduced by Representatives Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), is supported by many of the world’s leading scientists, including Dr. E.O. Wilson, Dr. Jane Goodall, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, as well as over 100 members of Congress.

***Read the Act to Save America's Forests (S. 1897) now***

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The National Forest Protection and Restoration Act

After our record amount of support in the last Congress (99 House co-sponsors), the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act was reintroduced in the House of Representatives in April 2001. The movement to protect America's National Forests and save taxpayers money gained momentum when a historic number of U.S. Representatives introduced the bill to end commercial logging in our National Forests. The Sierra Club praised the 74 Representatives backing the bi-partisan National Forest Protection and Restoration Act (NFPRA), led by Representatives Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) and Jim Leach (R-IA).

The commercial logging program on our national forests continues to dig itself into a deeper hole, creating more environmental damage and a bigger restoration bill for the taxpayers each year. The commercial logging program has created the legacy of a destructive network of clearcuts and 440,000 miles of logging roads that have resulted in long-term damage to wildlife and fish habitat, water pollution, and lost recreational opportunities. According to the General Accounting Office, this wasteful program lost more than $2 billion between 1992-1997. Clearly, the time has come for this destructive and wasteful program to end.

The NFPRA would put America's National Forests off-limits to logging companies, saving taxpayers billions of dollars. Americans currently subsidize commercial logging in our national forests, losing $2 billion on the program from 1992 to 1997, according to the General Accounting Office. NFPRA would eliminate the federal logging program, redirecting the money saved to restore forests and help diversify the economies of communities that receive revenues from federal logging activities. 

Specifically, the bill would:

• Preserve America's natural heritage by ending the federal government timber sale programs on our national forests, national wildlife refuges, BLM lands and national parks.
• Redirect money to forest restoration programs to restore damaged streams, rivers and watersheds.
• Redirect logging subsidies to provide funds for worker retraining and give preference to displaced timber workers for jobs in the woods doing ecological restoration.

What you can do to help:

Contact 
Your members of Congress and ask them to sign on as co-sponsors of the National Forest Protection & Restoration Act (NFPRA).

Phone
Your Senator and Representative can be called via the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Write
Your Senator at U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510.
Your Representative at U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.

Look Them Up Online
Look up your Senator or Representative online.
http://congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials

Contact the President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Comment line: 202-456-1111
Fax: 202-456-2461
president@whitehouse.gov