Protecting The Forest For All The People
I AM always pleased to have a chance to reintroduce my grandfather, Theodore Roosevelt, to all of you who are much too young to know about him. As a president, he is memorialized at Mount Rushmore along with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. Teddy Roosevelt, for whom the Teddy bear is named, was passionate in his beliefs about conservation. My grandfather firmly believed that the public lands belonged to we the people - and not to special-interest groups with excessive wealth and power.
As president, Roosevelt set aside over 100 million acres as National Forest: over half of the current National Forest system. Roosevelt protected much of our forest here in the Pacific Northwest to keep them out of the hands of timber syndicates. At the same time, Roosevelt made very sure that the proper agency was set up to preserve and protect these lands: the Forest Service.
Under the able leadership of Roosevelt's chief forester and close friend, Gifford Pinchot, the Forest Service established the doctrine of "multiple use- - the National Forests would be both preserved and still used.
So what happened? Soon after Roosevelt left the White House, his successor, President Taft, fired Gifford Pinchot for refusing to put private timber interests above the public interest. In the years since, many of our brightest and our best in the service have suffered the same fate. Why? Because they believed as Roosevelt believed in obeying the law and protecting our public lands.
Over the years and especially since World War II, the Forest Service shifted to "single use": timber production. The Forest Service has wandered far from its principled commitment to protect the National Forests for all the people.
What has happened to the public lands in the 50 years since my husband and I settled in the Pacific Northwest? It is a very dismal tale and I know that you have heard it many times. But it bears repeating time and time again to arouse the American public to stop what is happening to their public lands.
As everyone knows who has spent time in the forest or looked out an airplane window, the once verdant canopy over the mountains is now pockmarked with clear-cuts. Clear-cuts mar the landscape. Logging roads further tear at the fabric of the forests. Over 370,000 miles of logging roads crisscross the 156 National Forests - 370,000 miles of roads. This makes the Forest Service the largest road-building entity in the history of mankind, and the American taxpayers the financiers of every mile. We have enough logging roads to circle the equator 15 times. The Coeur d'Alene National Forest in north Idaho averages over 10 miles of logging roads for every mile of forest.
The healthy forest acts as a sponge that absorbs the water that comes from melting snows and from rains. This forest sponge is destroyed by clear-cutting and roads. The land cannot hold onto the water. All over the Northwest, the massive landslides and floods have been devastating. Floods are especially bad in the Coeur d'Alene because they carry downstream millions of pounds of lead and other poisons from mining in Idaho - polluting waters downstream in Eastern Washington.
Not only do the clear-cuts and roads cause flooding, but they fill streams with silt and debris. Trout streams are ruined and can no longer claim their title. Salmon and steelhead have no place to spawn. Commercial fishing is threatened by the loss of habitat in our National Forests. The quality of recreational fishing is diminished. Municipal watersheds all along the Cascade Mountains are at risk.
The money doesn't exist to maintain the current massive road systems and undo the damage. Yet, Congress wants to build even more logging roads. Taxpayers pay millions of dollars for these roads, actually pay to damage and destroy their own National Forests, and pay yet again to try to fix the damage. These logging road subsidies are irresponsible to the American taxpayer.
The majority of our congressional delegation are among the chief villains. The inheritance that Theodore Roosevelt secured for all Americans is being flagrantly and thoughtlessly destroyed. He would be distraught. And believe me, so am I.
This ravage of our forests, our public lands, our children's inheritance, must be stopped, right now!
Vashon Island resident Edith Roosevelt Derby Williams, Theodore Roosevelt's granddaughter, has lived in the Northwest for 50 years. She is a member of the Washington Wilderness Coalition, Inland Empire Public Lands Council and the Sierra Club.