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The Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Federal Proposal for Destruction
The Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Located
in Southwestern Washington State, near Mt.
St. Helens, is recognized as one of the
United States oldest National Forests.
Encompassing 1.3 million acres, the Gifford
Pinchot is home to many of the Pacific
Northwest's Endangered and Threatened
species, and consists of many fragile
ecosystems, untouched by destructive,
catastrophic logging operations. The Gifford
Pinchot Forest is home to thousands of
species such as Grey Wolves, Grizzly Bears and Cougars, along with many of the Pacific
Northwest's Endangered Species. Some of the Endangered and Threatened species that call
the forest home include Northern Spotted Owls, Bald Eagles, and Chinook,
Coho, Steel head and Bull Trout.
With all of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest's
Ecological significance and Environmental
Diversity, it may sound like a mistake to tare it
apart, but that is exactly what the National Forest
Service intends to do if a senseless proposal is
approved. In November of last year, the National
Forest Service issued a proposal to “thin” or
massacre 1,358 acres of 70 to 100 year old trees, in
44 regions throughout the forest. The Forest
Service Proposal would call for the immediate
thinning of the regions by means of base cutting,
and extremely expensive, uneconomical helicopter
thinning by means of 11 helicopter pads to be
created throughout the wilderness.
The “thinning” desecration that is proposed to take place will result in the damage, and
removal of essential soils, through compaction, and erosion due to the extensive use of
heavy machinery, skid trails, road construction, transportation use and helicopter landing
pad creation. With the removal of the trees, essential factors are displaced, causing
catastrophic changes in the ecosystems, preventing future growth of plant matter, and
promoting the destruction of endangered species habitats. The soils of Washington's
forestlands have been damaged enough, and “thinning” only takes away much needed
nutrient biomass, further diminishing soil fertility, leading to the harmful use of devastating
fertilizers such as urea, which cause more harm then good.
Under the proposal, the US Forest Service
proposes that in order to make up for the soil
degradation by "tree thinning" operations,
200 pounds per acre of hazardous Urea be
dropped on each and every acre after the
"thinning operation." Amounting to more
then 135 tons (270 thousand pounds) of
hazardous chemicals to be carelessly
dumped into the endangered forest. The
unnatural Urea dump would contaminate not
only the forest and all of its species, but it
would contaminate rivers, streams, creeks,
ponds, lakes, and anything else in its way.
The Urea, of which the Forest Service claims is a suitable alternative, is an environmentally
hazardous chemical with a high nitrogen content. The Urea would intern disrupt the
ecosystems by causing biological chemical imbalances, algae blooms in waterways and lakes,
and inadvertently polluting the rivers and streams, causing irreversible damage to
endangered species habitats. According to federal law destroying endangered species
habitat is a crime, but apparently the National Forest Service believes they can get away with
it. It’s time that we unite to protect our native forests and our endangered species before its
too late. If you would like to join us in our efforts for environmental justice, you can contact
us at agm@searag.org, or you can sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about our up to
date campaigns and actions.
One of the many endangered ecosystems in the Gifford Pinchot
Near the Gifford Pinchot, "Thinning" has already taken it's toll
In the destruction, a new douglas fir struggle to survive.