University of Virginia Library

This Thursday a bill is scheduled
to come up before Congress which,
if passed, would result in greatly
accelerated timber cutting on an
estimated 60-70% of all National
Forest Lands outside the existing
wilderness acres. This bill, the
National Timber Supply Act, misleadingly
renamed the "National
Forest Conservation and Management
Act of 1969" (S. 1832, H.R.
12025), would convert land formerly
managed for such multiple uses
as wildlife, watershed, recreation,
forage, and timber into a timber
only management will provisions
for immediate cutting at a high rate
on all such lands. These lands
would include much of the remaining
virgin forests in the U.S. lands
that are much more valuable in this
unaltered state, lands that are
public property and should not be
administered for the sole benefit of
the timber industry, which already
has extensive holdings. This bill
would make it almost impossible to
set aside any further lands for
wilderness preservation.

There is an urgent need for
action immediate action. Timber
lobbyists have tried to keep the bill
secluded to prevent opposition
from Conservationists, but if you
do oppose the bill, there is still
time, and the most effective way to
be heard is to write a personal letter
or postcard to your Representative
or your Senator and refer to the bill
by name and number. The bill can
be stopped, and its success or
failure will depend on whether
enough people are concerned
enough to take the simple action of
writing to their congressmen.