The Bush administration has launched an unprecedented series of attacks on public lands and the species that depend on them. Instead of supporting the public's desire to protect our remaining wild forests and to restore degraded wildlands to create good jobs, the administration is moving back to catering to special corporate interests and serving as the henchmen of the timber industry. These attacks threaten over 191 million acres of National Forest lands nationwide, including 5.6 million acres included in the Six Rivers, Shasta-Trinity, Klamath, and Mendocino National Forests here in Northwest California.

Recent actions by the Bush administration to increase logging on National Forests include proposals to amend the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), National Forest Management Act (NFMA), Appeals Reform Act (ARA), and Northwest Forest Plan (NFP). These proposals, created through secret backroom deals with industry, would eliminate or weaken our most fundamental forest and wildlife conservation laws, undermine citizens' rights to participate in the management of public lands, expedite reckless logging, degrade ecosystem health and clean drinking water, and increase severe forest fires.

Gutting the Northwest Forest Plan
Targeting the Pacific Northwest's ancient forests, the administration has proposed to remove or weaken two important components of the plan governing 24 million acres of federal lands in the Cascade and coastal mountains of Washington, Oregon, and northern California.

Neutralizing the National Forest Management Act
Seeking to open up federal lands to more intensive resource extraction, the administration has announced plans to eliminate and undermine key provisions of the regulations that implement the National Forest Management Act on over 191 million acres of federal lands.

Taking the "Public" Out of Public Lands
Attempting to increase the commercial exploitation of federal lands, the administration has issued several new rules that limit meaningful public participation in the management of our National Forests and make it harder for citizens to hold the government accountable.