Tell Congress to Block Funding for Relocation and Major Overhaul of the U.S. Forest Service
NOTE: This article written by Neil Letson is reproduced from the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement website.
In March of this year, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced a sweeping restructuring of the U.S. Forest Service, including moving the agency’s headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Salt Lake City, Utah.
For those of us who care deeply about protecting creation, radical changes to the Forest Service (which manages 193 million acres of forests) is cause for deep concern.
Forests are critical to the health of God’s good creation in countless ways. They provide habitat for millions of our fellow creatures. They provide much of the oxygen for the planet and slow climate change by absorbing over 15 billion tons of CO2 each year according to NASA. They act as giant filters to keep water clean for human and other life across the globe. And they are balm to our spirits.
For more information about the proposed reorganization, read the April 16 Sierra Club article by Alex Craven: “Donald Trump Is Taking an Axe to the Forest Service”
On its website, the U.S. Forest denies that the reorganization will result in any major disruption of the agency’s conservation mission. But given the wrecking ball approach of the Trump Administration to other critical agencies over the past year, it is difficult to accept these claims without a high degree of skepticism.
For additional thoughts and a possible model for your communication with your representative and senators, see this sample letter that Tennessee-Western Kentucky Creation Care Ministry team member Neil Letson wrote to his representative.
After earning a B.S. degree in forest management from the University of Tennessee in 1974, Neil spent 40 years working in rural and urban natural resource management, the bulk of that with the Alabama Forestry Commission. Post-retirement, Neil continues to promote healthy forest resources by volunteering with the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council and local nonprofit natural resources organizations.
Emailing and calling your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators is quite simple:
Just go to their websites and you will find phone numbers of national and state-based offices. You will also find clear guidelines on how to email them.
If you are unsure who your Representative is (with the gerrymandering that is happening so frequently these days, that would be understandable), go to this link and enter your ZIP code in the “Find Your Representative” box. Note: If your ZIP code overlaps multiple Congressional Districts, you will be instructed to enter your full street address to get the specific name of your representative.