Logging national forests is like grinding Mount Rushmore for gravel or melting the Statue of Liberty for scrap iron. Only through government handouts and deceptive accounting could such economically and ecologically destructive practices continue.

With less than 5% of our nation's original forest cover remaining, there's no reason to continue handing out corporate welfare so that Big Timber can continue razing one of our nation's greatest assets.

THE FACTS: Native Forest Council has worked with accountants, economists, scientists and foresters to assess logging on federal lands. The economic facts listed below present a compelling argument to end logging on federal lands.

Please contact us for more information or details about our sources.

What's at Stake:
Approximately 200 million acres on 155 national forests. Less than 5% of our nation's original forests remain intact. These precious remaining forests provide clean water, oxygen and soil. Scientists have confirmed that forests also produce rain and influence weather patterns.

A Net Economic Loss:
National forests sit on steeper, high-elevation land that offers lower productivity than private lands. These lands are less-valuable for logging, but priceless for watershed and habitat preservation. The federal timber programs costs taxpayers over a billion dollars every year, according to the government. This is a very conservative estimate that the government will admit to. An accurate estimate that includes the value of lost assets would come to trillions of dollars. Revenue from logging is estimated at $354 million, while the revenue generated by our living forests is estimated at $3.7 billion per year (Source: The Economic Case Against National Forest Logging, National Forest Protection Alliance, December 1999). Despite bans on raw log exports, timber corporations have found loopholes to continue the practice. Log exports have cost our country at least 60,000 jobs.

Check out this report on the U.S. Forest Service's mismanagement of our tax dollars.

A National Treasure:
What do our national forests provide?

• More than 530.4 million acre-feet of clean water each year, valued at $3.7 billion per year for consumptive uses alone.
• Sequestering of 53 million metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere, a function worth nearly $3.4 billion per year.
• Recreation, hunting and fishing: Industries that contribute at least $111 billion to the gross national product and generate 2.9 million jobs each year.
• Habitat for wild pollinators, which contribute $4-7 billion per year to the agricultural economy.
• Clean air, water and soil.
• Food and shelter for wildlife.
• Rain production, mudslide prevention, CFC absorption.
• Oxygen.
• Humidity and pollution control.