National Forests Belong to All Americans

Gallatin National Forest. Photo credit: USDA, via flickr

Right now, the House is considering two bills that would turn over vast swaths of our country's National Forests to states in an effort to circumvent the laws that ensure that recreation and conservation values are protected. These bills, H.R. 2316 and H.R. 3650, prioritize logging over all of the other values that our public lands provide, and could even pave the way for privatization of some of our public lands' most iconic places. 

• H.R. 3650 would allow any state to claim ownership of up to 2 million acres of a National Forest (roughly the size of Yellowstone National Park), on the condition that the state then prioritize logging over other uses of the land.
• H.R. 2316 would allow states to take possession of 900,000 acres or more of National Forests and hand control over to a small groups representing special interests, appointed by the state’s governor.

These bills are an attack on public ownership of public lands. Please consider reaching out to your representative in Congress today to tell him our her why public lands matter to you, and to encourage him or her to vote to keep our public lands in public hands.

Tomorrow's vote is in the House Committee on Natural Resources, so outreach is most important to those members. You can see if your rep is on the committee by looking here.