> Home > National Forests Are More Than Timber

National Forests Are More Than Timber

National Forests are Much More Than Just Timber

Our first National Forests were established for the American people more than one hundred years ago. Since then the timber industry has turned our publicly owned National Forests into a patchwork of clearcuts and logging roads. Commercial logging has taken a harsh toll on the land: draining nutrients from the soil, washing topsoil into streams, destroying wildlife habitat, and intensifying the severity of wildfires. The U.S. Forest Service commercial logging program continues to waste taxpayers’ funds by subsidizing logging while creating more environmental damage and a bigger restoration bill for the taxpayers each year. 

Virginia’s National Forests, the George Washington & Jefferson, provide numerous recreational activities for millions of visitors per year.  These valuable recreational areas provide 2000 miles of trails (over 1100 miles non-motorized), and are the largest publicly owned land base for recreation in the eastern United States

Unfortunately, over 38% of Virginia’s National Forest land is currently open to logging and clear cutting.  Although tourism income far outweighs timber income from National Forests nationally, Congress assigns over two-thirds of the forest service’s budget to timber programs.

The benefits of protecting and restoring our National Forests far outweigh those of continued logging. Whereas less than 3 percent of America’s wood products come from National Forests, nearly 80 percent of our drinking water originates there. We can easily make up that 3 percent by the smart use of existing resources, recycling, and promoting non-wood paper alternatives. At the same time, decommissioning logging roads and restoring damaged forests and stream banks can have an immediate payback in the form of jobs for rural communities. Restoring our National Forests will leave a legacy of clean air and water, wildlife habitat, recreation opportunities, and protection from flooding and catastrophic wildfires -- a wild heritage that is worth more than can be measured by two-by-fours and dollars.