1994 RESOLUTIONS
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| 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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