As an avid hiker, I take great pleasure in the natural beauty and landscape of our national forests, especially Illinois’ beloved Shawnee National Forest. A year ago, President Clinton took a step to protect these national treasures by announcing one of the most ambitious land-preservation proposals in history: to protect 60 million acres of pristine and wild forests.
But over the last year, the U.S. Forest Service has introduced several loopholes in this proposal, which has eroded this once-historic policy. The Forest Service draft Roadless Initiative is filled with exemptions and loopholes. The current proposal completely excludes from roadless guidelines the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, one of the last remaining temperate rainforests in our world. In addition, under the Forest Service’s draft plan, logging is still permitted in more than 73 percent of our “protected” lands.
In the next several days, the Forest Service will decide the fate of these 60 million acres of national forest land that stretches through 39 states, including Illinois. I urge the Clinton administration and the U.S. Forest Service to close these loopholes so future generations can witness the beauty that Illinois forests offer.
