Working to Commemorate 2011 International Year of Forests
By
way of a Senate resolution, we are working to commemorate the International
Year of Forests.
On March 29, together we introduced S. Res. 113, aimed to acknowledge the importance of America’s woodlands—both public and private—for all Americans.
We recognize the importance of forests, and we introduced this resolution to help tell the story to all Americans. As stated in the resolution,
“… forests of the United States are essential to the health, environment, social fabric, and economy of the United States, as well as to the individual well-being of the people of the United States.”
Our resolution honors the 11 million private landowners in the United States, and the thousands of forestry professionals who work to conserve the country’s public and private woodlands.
We also recognize the importance of forests to America’s sportsmen:
“…the 14,000,000 Americans who hunt and the 44,000,000 Americans who fish depend on private forests for most of the habitat for fish and wildlife.”
And we know that forests also supply one of the greenest building materials, since
“…wood products are one of the most environmentally friendly building materials, resulting in a maximum reduction in energy use of 17 percent and a more than 250 percent reduction in air and water pollution, when compared to alternative materials.”
We hope with this resolution, more Americans will understand the value of America’s forests and join us in the celebration of Americas forests this year, in the International Year of Forests.
Senator Lugar of Indiana, sponsor of S. Res. 113, is a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.
Senator Shaheen of New Hampshire, co-sponsor of S. Res. 113, is a member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Write your Senators and ask them to cosponsor S. Res. 113.
Photo by Flickr's ucumari.
