U.S. FOREST SERVICE PREPARING TO IMPLEMENT UNITED NATIONS AGENDA 21 ON ALABAMA SOIL ?
On June 28, 2000, at 6:00 PM, representatives of the U.S. Forest Service convened a meeting at the Holiday Inn on West Oxmoor Road in Birmingham, Alabama to elicit comments
about a proposal to designate much of the national forest area in Alabama (and throughout the nation) as roadless areas. A simplified statement of this proposal: no new roads would be permitted and many existing roads would be closed in
national forest areas of over 5,000 acres, greatly restricting access to those areas for most purposes.
There was little publicity to the public at large concerning this meeting, but special interest groups (like the Sierra Club) seem to have been well informed and had many representives present to present their views, which were, of course, favorable to
the proposal. We, more-or-less accidentally became aware of the meeting and notified Eagle Forum and a local radio talk-show host who announced the meeting over the air the morning of the 28th. Had not our friends and the Eagle Forum representative shown up there would have been little opposition expressed.
A paper written by the US Forest Service titled "A Rationale For Forest Service Involvement In Sustainable Development" tells it like it is. The paper’s "Statement of Need" opens with the following paragraph:
"The federal government, industry, and the environmental community are becoming increasingly involved in responding to the challenge of sustainable development. The United States participated in the Earth Summit but received a great deal of criticism despite its commitment at the Summit to ecosystem management of U.S. public forest lands. In 1993, President Clinton established the President's Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD), a highlevel group of political, industry and conservation leaders asked to develop recommendations on how the United States should implement the principles of sustainable development. Associated with the PCSD and the White House is the Interagency Working Group on Sustainable Development indicators. Also in 1993, the United States committed in Helsinki, Finland to the goal of SFM (Sustainable Forest Management) of forests in America by the year 2000. In April 1995 the US participated in the 3rd UN Commission on Sustainable Development conference in New York that focused on forests and their sustainable management."
Is this going on elsewhere? Oh yes!
"A number of states (eg. Minnesota and Kentucky) and cities (such as Seattle, Washington) have also begun to address what they might do for sustainable development. The American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) has initiated its Sustainable Forestry Principles initiative and the environmental community is advocating that domestic wood that is produced sustainably labeled as such."
How much progress have they made?
"National NGOs have also been active in pressing for progress in implementing Agenda 21 (United Nations). International NGOs were key to the ITTO agreement. Members of the AF&PA must abide with its Sustainable Forestry Principles and Implementation Guidelines. The international environmental community is promoting trade restrictions on nations where wood is not sustainably produced. To this end, NGO's have developed criteria, or a definition of SFM, to identify whether wood has been produced sustainably. Short of trade restrictions, these organizations are promoting the concept of "green labeling' or certification to enable consumers to select sustainably produced wood products. The certification movement has grown quickly."
This won’t effect my property - will it?
 | The President's commitment to the goal of sustainable forestry in the United States by the year 2000 applies to all forests in the United States.
| What does this mean with 60 per cent of U.S. forests under private ownership?
| What is the role of the Forest Service in helping achieve the President's commitment to the goal of SFM by the year 2000?
| Can the Forest Service, at all levels, articulate the agency's role and the difference between sustainable development, SFM, and ecosystem management?
| Are there specific agency programs that should better reflect Forest Service leadership in sustainable development?
| The Sustainable Development Interdeputy Area Team has been charged to answer these questions.
| | | | | |
Where did this information come from? Before we tell you ask yourself why didn’t Birmingham newspapers and other media publicize this information.
Title: A Rationale For Forest Service Involvement In Sustainable Development
Author: (Contact) Mike Funston, USDA Forest Service
email: /s=m.funston/ou1=w01b@mhs-fswa.attmail.com
Phone:703.235.1509 Publish_date:06.15.95
The document can be downloaded at http://svinet2.fs.fed.us:80/land/sustain_dev/susdev1.html
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