The future of agriculture and forestry is intertwined with protecting and preserving our natural resources. It will be necessary to find new ways to educate our urban citizens if we truly are to protect our environment. Environmental activist groups have reduced Oregon's forest industry to a shadow of its past. While we do believe that protection of all our natural resources is critical, preservation does not mean we stop using our greatest renewable resource. If we fail to stop the current anti-management philosophy that environmental extremists are promoting, Oregon will become the home of blackened acres rather than healthy forests, masses of brambles rather than lush meadows, noxious weeds rather than rich grasslands, and arid wastes rather than productive farmlands.
Good management is the only tool for preservation of our environment.
The Oregon State Grange calls upon our congressional delegation to force the Forest Service to manage our forests for multiple use and to do the proper studies before closing 54 million acres by locking them up forever as roadless areas. Congress has the power to force the agency to perform its duties, rather than carrying out the extremist political agenda of the executive branch. The Grange must spread the message that the 99 percent plus that make their living from the productive use of our natural resources live in harmony with nature. D.C. The government's success in protecting our natural resources has been almost entirely in providing education and voluntary incentives to farmers, ranchers, foresters, and others. When the government begins mandating rules and regulations for protection, it inevitable fails to protect the whole environment.