TO THE
HONORABLE GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF
THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE
AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:
We,
your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of
Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and
petition as follows:
WHEREAS,
For fifty years, labor unions have advocated forestry methods that incorporate
environmental values in the form of sustained-use and multiple-use forestry and
setting aside timber land in wilderness areas and parks, so that forests can be
vital elements in the everyday lives of communities; and
WHEREAS,
In the Pacific Northwest, timber is a primary industry, and hundreds of
communities are timber-dependent; and
WHEREAS,
In the Pacific Northwest, workers directly employed by timber companies are
woodworkers and truckers, workers in sawmills and plywood mills, and workers in
pulp and paper mills; and
WHEREAS,
In the Pacific Northwest, the timber industry supports secondary employment in
the service and public sectors, employees whose jobs depend on timber sales;
and
WHEREAS,
Workers in other parts of the country depend on the raw materials from the
Pacific Northwest; workers in furniture, paper, and building materials
manufacturing, as well as the building trades; and
WHEREAS,
Pacific Northwest timber makes up more than thirty percent of all the timber
used in the United States; and
WHEREAS,
Job losses would erode the tax bases of hundreds of Pacific Northwest
communities, jeopardizing public and service sector employment and the delivery
of vital social services; and
WHEREAS,
The issue of timber harvesting and protection of species habitat is much
broader than the spotted owl and the Pacific Northwest; and
WHEREAS,
The timber industry is a fifty-seven billion dollar industry, employing six
hundred twenty-seven thousand workers in every region of the United States and
providing seventy percent of the United States' building construction
materials; and
WHEREAS,
A failure to find a solution to the issues of the spotted owl and old growth
forests of the Pacific Northwest leaves larger issues unaddressed and the door
open for continued controversy and economic disruption in nearly every part of
the country; and
WHEREAS,
Halting timber harvest in order to protect the owl, the federal government may
lose two hundred twenty-nine million dollars a year in timber sales receipts;
and
WHEREAS,
The issue is not whether species like the spotted owl deserve protection but
rather to find solutions that protect species and protect jobs and communities;
and
WHEREAS,
A long-term solution requires a balance between environmental needs and the
economic well-being of working families and communities across the country; and
WHEREAS,
Labor unions representing Northwest timber workers have joined with the timber
industry to offer a balanced, comprehensive, and fair approach to the forest
management crisis in the Northwest, under the title Forests and Families
Protection Act, H.R. 2463; and
WHEREAS,
The Forest and Families Protection Act is the only proposal that deals with all
of the components of the present problem: (1) Old-growth reserves; (2) spotted
owl protection; (3) timber program stability; and (4) worker assistance and
economic adjustment measures;
NOW,
THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that Congress and the President
of the United States enact the Forests and Families Protection Act, H.R. 2463.
BE IT
RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the
Honorable George Bush, President of the United States, the President of the
United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each
member of Congress from the State of Washington.
