Anna Eshoo: “I rise in support of the Bryant amendment to H.R. 2473. Although this legislation protects many forests in Montana as…”

“I rise in support of the Bryant amendment to H.R. 2473. Although this legislation protects many forests in Montana as wilderness areas, it also releases nearly 4 million acres of unprotected forests areas to forest plans that promote clearcutting and waste our tax dollars. This is bad ecological policy and bad economic policy. Poor forest management disrupts our most valuable ecosystems by causing soil erosion and permanent loss of fisheries, birds, mammals, plants, and timber. Furthermore, the CBO estimates that the Federal Timber Program's expenditures were greater than receipts by a 3-to-2 margin in the northern Rockies. The main reason for below-cost timber and the expensive roads built with taxpayer dollars to provide access to cheap timber. Our national forests have eight times more miles of roads than the U.S. Interstate Highway System. Our tax dollars should be spent to build and repair highways, not to wreak havoc on our precious ecosystems. The Bryant amendment would prohibit all forms of even-age forest management, or clearcutting, and prohibit the construction of roads in roadless areas. I urge my colleagues to support the Bryant amendment.”