Dear Representative:
The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is the political voice of the national environmental community. Each year, LCV publishes the National Environmental Scorecard, which details the voting records of Members of Congress on environmental legislation. The Scorecard is distributed to LCV members, concerned voters nationwide, and the press.
LCV urges you to oppose H.R. 4200, the deceptively titled Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act. H.R. 4200 is a misguided effort to expedite logging in our national forests where forest fires and normal weather events have occurred. This bill ignores scientific research demonstrating that post-fire logging not only impedes forest recovery but could damage ecosystems and actually increase fire risk. H.R. 4200 also exempts logging projects from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires meaningful public involvement and that the best available science be used in determining the appropriate course of action.
H.R 4200 poses a serious threat to our national forests, the wildlife they shelter, and the clean drinking water they provide. The bill lacks protections for roadless areas, old growth forests, critical wildlife habitat, and other important areas. And it would even lift Endangered Species Act protections by allowing projects to move forward before inter-agency consultation, even if they would harm or even kill listed species that should be protected under the Act.
This logging bill also creates incentives that could result in more damaging projects and fewer resources going to important efforts to protect our communities before a fire begins. Congress has already given the Forest Service authority to address natural disasters, so this legislation is both unnecessary and unwarranted in addition to being harmful.
We urge you to oppose H.R. 4200, the Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act and instead encourage the Forest Service to focus more of its resources on protecting communities at risk from fires. LCV has scored votes on waiving environmental laws to increase logging in our national forests on numerous occasions, and the Political Advisory Committee will strongly consider this vote in compiling LCV’s 2005 Scorecard. If you need more information, please call Tiernan Sittenfeld or Nat Mund in my office at (202) 785-8683.
