For decades Americans have subsidized the corporate logging of THEIR forests and finally the word is out. According to recent polls, 70% of Americans want commercial logging to end on public lands. This is the goal of the Zero Cut campaign which is endorsed by 100's of conservation groups. SInce only 4% of our annual timber supply comes from Public Lands, it is pointless to continue cutting them when so little of our original forest remains. Bipartisan efforts in Congress to end the timber sales program on public lands is an ongoing process. If resulting legislation becomes law it will redirect current logging subsidies into worker retraining, payments to counties, ecological restoration work and deficit reduction. Taxpayers will save over $300 million annually.

    More than 220 prominent scientists sent a letter to President Bush recently calling for an end to logging on federally owned lands.  The scientists, including E.O. Wilson, argued that the economic value of timber from public lands was insignificant compared to the environmental damage from logging, and that taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize timber harvests.  The letter, a project of the Sierra Club, read in part, "Timber [from national forests] produces roughly $4 billion per year, while recreation, fish and wildlife, clean water, and unroaded areas provide a combined total of $224 billion to the American economy each year.