Paying timber companies over a billion dollars of our taxes every year to devastate these irreplaceable forests, is to commit a sin of greed and waste. While in Washington, RCFC delegates plan to meet with over one hundred legislators to urge support for the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act, H.R. 1396. The bill, introduced by Republican Representative Jim Leach of Iowa and Democratic Representative Cynthia McKinney of Georgia would end the timber sales program on federal lands, and redirect logging subsidies into worker retraining, environmental restoration, and savings to taxpayers. Some of those interviewed expressed confidence their pleas would be heard. We have the Truth, the Lord and His Scriptures, as well as the truth, the economics, and environmental facts on our side.
Victory is assured.
Others expressed a sense of urgency. When we make the connection between spirituality and the environment, we know that what is being done to the forests is wrong. This connection was also emphasized by Br. Keith Warner, O.F.M., a Franciscan Friar at Mission San Juan Bautista in Central California. Religion and spirituality are guiding forces in people's lives and they strongly inform our values.