Number: 1990-03
WHEREAS, the protection of the long-term health and productivity of our nation’s forests is a high priority for the National Wildlife Federation and its affiliates; and
WHEREAS, ongoing management and planning activities of the U.S. Forest Service directly influence biological diversity and the health of forest ecosystems; and
WHEREAS, increasing importance is being placed on non-commodity forest values, the protection of natural ecosystems, and biological diversity by a growing number of Americans, yet the budget and policy priorities established by and for the Forest Service continue to favor the production of commodity resources; and
WHEREAS, the Forest Service’s national road building and timber sale policies often provide access to economically unsound timber sales and other extractive activities and thereby threaten environmentally sensitive and unroaded areas; and
WHEREAS, the Food Security Act of 1985 established landmark conservation measures in agriculture which encouraged agricultural producers to reduce soil erosion, avoid “sodbusting” fragile lands, and to avoid converting wetlands to agriculture; and
WHEREAS, the implementation of these conservation measures by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and specifically the Soil Conservation Service and the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service has not been fully effective; and
WHEREAS, wetlands continue to be converted to agricultural land despite these conservation measures; and
WHEREAS, sedimentation from soil erosion and contamination from agricultural fertilizers and pesticides despoils our nation’s ponds, lakes, streams, rivers, wetlands, and groundwater — killing fish, destroying habitat, and contaminating our drinking water;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 15-18, 1990, in Denver, Colorado, urges the Forest Service and private industry to provide leadership in forest conservation and balanced management by giving greater emphasis to the protection of forest ecosystems, biological diversity, and other non-consumptive forest resources and values in budget and policy decisions; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges all agencies within the Department of Agriculture to aggressively implement the Conservation Title of the 1985 Food Security Act in order to protect our soils, our water, and our wildlife habitat, and petitions the Congress to enact stronger conservation provisions in the 1990 Farm Bill to address each of these areas of concern.