FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 25, 2002 |
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Nationwide Poll Reveals Americans Want Action to Protect our Nation's Forests
Seventy Percent of Americans Support Thinning and Harvesting Trees to Reduce the Threat of Wildfire
(Washington, D.C.) – A nationwide poll released today confirmed that an overwhelming majority of Americans are concerned about the threat of wildfires and support action to protect our national forests.
Eighty-three percent of voters polled express concern about the threat of wildfires to our nation's forests and rangelands. And 70 percent agree that thinning and harvesting trees helps to reduce the risk of wildfire and forests need to be managed to minimize the impacts.
Moore Information, Inc., an independent, public opinion research company based in Portland, Oregon, polled 800 registered voters across the nation in a telephone survey. The poll was conducted for the Forest Products Industry National Labor Management Committee (LMC), a coalition of labor unions and management associations chaired by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC).
"After a summer of the worst wildfire catastrophes in history, Americans realize that thinning and harvesting are key to stopping future disasters," said Mike Draper, Vice President of the UBC's Western Region. "If we don't take action, we won't have forests to manage."
Already this year, nearly 3,000 fires have destroyed over six million acres. "We deserve a solution that removes the imminent danger. It's time for our government leaders to loosen the bureaucratic grip and for warring political factions to reach consensus and let the land managers do their jobs to remove hazardous fuels from our nation's forests," Draper stated.
Draper also noted that materials removed with no commercial value can be utilized as biomass to generate electricity. In addition, materials with commercial value can be sold to help pay for the cost of removing the rest. "If jobs come out of it, so much the better. If wood supplies come out of it for Americans to use, so much the better. A better forest policy is not only better for our forests, it's better for our economy, producing more jobs and opportunities," Draper concluded.
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Methodology: Moore Information conducted 800 telephone interviews among likely voters nationwide. All interviews took place September 18-19, 2002. The overall margin of error is +/-3% at the 95% confidence level.
About the Labor Management Committee: The Forest Products Industry National Labor Management Committee is a nonprofit trust headquartered in Washington, D.C., formed to pursue the common public policy interests of organized labor and management in the forest products industry and operating within the confines of the Taft-Hartley Act. Established in 1989, the LMC represents more than 2 million workers, including employees in the wood and paper industries and the U.S. Forest Service.
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