I 108th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5312 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 8, 2004 Ms. Eshoo (for herself, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Andrews, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Berman, Mr. Bishop of New York, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Cardin, Ms. Carson of Indiana, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Clay, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mrs. Davis of California, Mr. Delahunt, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Deutsch, Mr. Emanuel, Mr. Engel, Mr. Evans, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Filner, Mr. Ford, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Hoeffel, Mr. Holt, Mr. Honda, Mr. Israel, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Jefferson, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island, Mr. Kleczka, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Lampson, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms. Lee, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Lynch, Mrs. Maloney, Mr. Markey, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Ms. McCarthy of Missouri, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McDermott, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Meehan, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Millender-McDonald, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Moore, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Neal of Massachusetts, Ms. Norton, Mr. Olver, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Payne, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Rothman, Mr. Rush, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Shays, Mr. Sherman, Ms. Slaughter, Ms. Solis, Mr. Stark, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Towns, Ms. Waters, Mr. Watt, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Weiner, Mr. Wexler, Ms. Woolsey, and Mr. Wynn) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 and related laws to strengthen the protection of native biodiversity and ban clearcutting on Federal land, and to designate certain Federal land as Ancient forests, roadless areas, watershed protection areas, and special areas where logging and other intrusive activities are prohibited.

1.

Short title; table of contents

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Act to Save America’s Forests. (b)

Table of contents

The table of contents of this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents Sec. 2. Findings and purposes Title I—Land management Sec. 101. Committee of scientists Sec. 102. Continuous forest inventory Sec. 103. Administration and management Sec. 104. Conforming amendments Title II—Protection for Ancient forests, roadless areas, watershed protection areas, and special areas Sec. 201. Findings Sec. 202. Definitions Sec. 203. Designation of special areas Sec. 204. Restrictions on management activities in Ancient forests, roadless areas, watershed protection areas, and special areas Title III—Effective date Sec. 301. Effective date Sec. 302. Effect on existing contracts Sec. 303. Wilderness act exclusion

2.

Findings and purposes

(a)

Findings

Congress finds that— (1) Federal agencies that permit clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations include the Forest Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management; (2) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations cause substantial alterations in native biodiversity by— (A) emphasizing the production of a limited number of commercial species, and often only a single species, of trees on each site; (B) manipulating the vegetation toward greater relative density of the commercial species; (C) suppressing competing species; and (D) requiring the planting, on numerous sites, of a commercial strain of the species that reduces the relative diversity of other genetic strains of the species that were traditionally located on the same sites; (3) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations— (A) frequently lead to the death of immobile species and the very young of mobile species of wildlife; and (B) deplete the habitat of deep-forest species of animals, including endangered species and threatened species; (4) (A) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations— (i) expose the soil to direct sunlight and the impact of precipitation; (ii) disrupt the soil surface; (iii) compact organic layers; and (iv) disrupt the run-off restraining capabilities of roots and low-lying vegetation, resulting in soil erosion, the leaching of nutrients, a reduction in the biological content of soil, and the impoverishment of soil; and (B) all of the consequences described in subparagraph (A) have a long-range deleterious effect on all land resources, including timber production; (5) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations aggravate global climate change by— (A) decreasing the capability of the soil to retain carbon; and (B) during the critical periods of felling and site preparation, reducing the capacity of the biomass to process and to store carbon, with a resultant loss of stored carbon to the atmosphere; (6) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations render soil increasingly sensitive to acid deposits by causing a decline of soil wood and coarse woody debris; (7) a decline of solid wood and coarse woody debris reduces the capacity of soil to retain water and nutrients, which in turn increases soil heat and impairs soil’s ability to maintain protective carbon compounds on the soil surface; (8) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations result in— (A) increased stream sedimentation and the silting of stream bottoms; (B) a decline in water quality; (C) the impairment of life cycles and spawning processes of aquatic life from benthic organisms to large fish; and (D) as a result of the effects described in subparagraphs (A) through (C), a depletion of the sport and commercial fisheries of the United States; (9) clearcutting and other forms of even-age management of Federal forests disrupt natural disturbance regimes that are critical to ecosystem function; (10) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations increase harmful edge effects, including— (A) blowdowns; (B) invasions by weed species; and (C) heavier losses to predators and competitors; (11) by reducing the number of deep, canopied, variegated, permanent forests, clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations— (A) limit areas where the public can satisfy an expanding need for recreation; and (B) decrease the recreational value of land; (12) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations replace forests described in paragraph (11) with a surplus of clearings that grow into relatively impenetrable thickets of saplings, and then into monoculture tree plantations; (13) because of the harmful and, in many cases, irreversible, damage to forest species and forest ecosystems caused by logging of Ancient and roadless forests, clearcutting, and other forms of even-age management, it is important that these practices be halted based on the precautionary principle; (14) human beings depend on native biological resources, including plants, animals, and micro-organisms— (A) for food, medicine, shelter, and other important products; and (B) as a source of intellectual and scientific knowledge, recreation, and aesthetic pleasure; (15) alteration of native biodiversity has serious consequences for human welfare, as the United States irretrievably loses resources for research and agricultural, medicinal, and industrial development; (16) alteration of biodiversity in Federal forests adversely affects the functions of ecosystems and critical ecosystem processes that— (A) moderate climate; (B) govern nutrient cycles and soil conservation and production; (C) control pests and diseases; and (D) degrade wastes and pollutants; (17) (A) clearcutting and other forms of even-age management operations have significant deleterious effects on native biodiversity, by reducing habitat and food for cavity-nesting birds and insectivores such as the 3-toed woodpecker and hairy woodpecker and for neotropical migratory bird species; and (B) the reduction in habitat and food supply could disrupt the lines of dependency among species and their food resources and thereby jeopardize critical ecosystem function, including limiting outbreaks of destructive insect populations; for example— (i) the 3-toed woodpecker requires clumped snags in spruce-fir forests, and 99 percent of its winter diet is composed of insects, primarily spruce beetles; and (ii) a 3-toed woodpecker can consume as much as 26 percent of the brood of an endemic population of spruce bark beetle and reduce brood survival of the population by 70 to 79 percent; (18) the harm of clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations on the natural resources of the United States and the quality of life of the people of the United States is substantial, severe, and avoidable; (19) by substituting selection management, as required by this Act, for clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations, the Federal agencies involved with those logging operations would substantially reduce devastation to the environment and improve the quality of life of the people of the United States; (20) selection management— (A) retains natural forest structure and function; (B) focuses on long-term rather than short-term management; (C) works with, rather than against, the checks and balances inherent in natural processes; and (D) permits the normal, natural processes in a forest to allow the forest to go through the natural stages of succession to develop a forest with old growth ecological functions; (21) by protecting native biodiversity, as required by this Act, Federal agencies would maintain vital native ecosystems and improve the quality of life of the people of the United States; (22) selection logging— (A) is more job intensive, and therefore provides more employment than clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations to manage the same quantity of timber production; and (B) produces higher quality sawlogs than clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations; and (23) the judicial remedies available to enforce Federal forest laws are inadequate, and should be strengthened by providing for injunctions, declaratory judgments, statutory damages, and reasonable costs of suit. (b)

Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to conserve native biodiversity and protect all native ecosystems on all Federal land against losses that result from— (1) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations; and (2) logging in Ancient forests, roadless areas, watershed protection areas, and special areas.