Sierra forest. Photo by Rory Cecil
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Logging inspections must be restored!
Assemblymember Chesbro needs to hear from you!
Last fall, with a stroke of his line-item veto pencil, then-Gov. Schwarzenegger gutted the budget of California's lead agency for protecting wildlife — the California Dept. of Fish & Game (DFG) — leaving its program for inspecting logging operations woefully understaffed!
To rectify the situation, Forests Forever has sponsored Assembly Bill 1005, introduced by Assemblymember Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento). The measure would restore DFG’s funding for field inspections in vast timber-producing areas.
Throughout California's forested regions, thousands of acres are being clearcut each year, and wild flora and fauna face a resulting threat of habitat destruction.
More than ever, DFG needs trained biologists to be the public's eyes and ears in areas where logging impacts threatened and endangered species.
Please help in this vital effort! Your support of Forests Forever will enable us to increase pressure on balky politicians and get A.B. 1005 signed into law.
Your support of Forests Forever will enable us to pressure balky politicians into signing on to A.B. 1005.
In particular, we urge letters and calls to Assembly Natural Resources Committee Chair Wesley Chesbro (D-North Coast).
Please make a special effort to persuade him by writing a letter today!.
Currently A.B. 1005 sits in Chesbro's committee. So far, Chesbro has yet to bring the bill up for consideration.
Chesbro holds the key to revitalizing the DFG's field inspections, without which the timber industry is left to police itself.
Moreover, A.B. 1005 would save you money. Timber companies would be required to pay for DFG’s timber-harvest inspections. As it stands now, such expenses are billed to the taxpayer.
Take action now to move the state in the right direction!
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