John Doolittle: “our forests are really in deplorable condition. My colleagues can see and anyone who flies over the Sierra Nevadas can…”

“our forests are really in deplorable condition. My colleagues can see and anyone who flies over the Sierra Nevadas can see just what a terrible state they are in, how years of drought and insect infestation have killed in some cases more than one-third of all the standing trees, a number of brown trees they can see flying over the Sierra Nevadas. We have had some devastating forest fires. And the prognosis is, unless we manage these forests, we are going to have fires on an even greater scale than we have seen so far, that will absolutely wreak havoc for years upon the environment and destroy the livelihood of all the people that live in timber-based communities. Mr. Chairman, the Quincy Library Group represents remarkable consensus amongst local residents, local timber experts, local businessmen, local environmentalists, all local people who have produced this consensus to properly manage the forests. The only group opposed to this legislation is the arrogant, left wing, taxpayer subsidized environmental lobby, because if we have consensus to manage our forests at the local level, they might not be necessary. Mr. Chairman, this is a good bill. We should approve this bill and finally send a message to the world that local people can govern themselves, so I urge the approval of this legislation.”