Tomorrow, Thursday February 24th, the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on federal lands will commence a hearing to consider legislation that would dispose of vast stretches of national forests and other public lands across the country. One, H.R. 3650, would allow states to seize federal timber lands and then auction them off to timber and mining interests. A second, H.R. 2316, would allow states to seize up to 4 million acres of forest land and log it with no regard for environmental protection.
Why is this important?
Once our public wildlands are gone, we can not get them back. They are our heritage, our refuge, and the health-giving part of our nation. Federal protection has, in the past, saved the lands in the West from environmental destruction by the states and localities. Let's keep our public wildlands safe from them into the future.
