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FEDERATION OF WESTERN OUTDOOR CLUBS







14     
RAW LOGS EXPORTS AND IMPORTS





Despite public displeasure with the practice, private land owners and large timber companies (such as Weyerhaueser) continue to export the raw (un-milled) logs from our forests, logs needed for keeping the sawmills of the Pacific Northwest operating.  The alleged justification for this practice is the high prices paid by Pacific Rim countries for raw logs.  To make up for this self-created shortage of timber, Weyerhauser (and other timber companies) are proposing to import logs from Siberia, Chile, and other temperate countries.  Such temperate-climate forests are similar to ours, meaning that logs from them are also very likely to contain insect pests and diseases.  These could thrive in our forests, where there are no native natural predators, or other control mechanisms.


From raw log imports, the wholesale loss of our Western forests is a distinct possibility, together with the potential for harmful large-scale use of pesticides in an attempt to establish control over the imported problems.


The solution to this situation is an outright prohibition of all log exports, even those this contravenes the current attitude towards private property rights.


At the beginning of this Congressional session, Representative Peter DeFazio, of Oregon, sponsored a bill to prohibit log exports.  He tried to incorporate it into the Export Administration Act, but this move was blocked by the House Leadership.  Currently, the bill remains in Mr. DeFazio's office, while he seeks some other avenue for getting his bill enacted.


The Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs urges its Members and its Member Clubs to appeal to their respective federal legislators to put the welfare of our national forests ahead of the potential profits of the timber industry.  For encouraging regional jobs, Congress must prohibit the export of raw logs; to protect our Western forests, it must also prohibit the import of logs from abroad.



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