Forest Service Seeks Consumers' Help

[babylonsister]

Forest Service Seeks Consumers' Help


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 25, 2007

Filed at 9:48 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Forest Service is teaming with a nonprofit foundation to allow consumers to participate in a voluntary program to ''offset'' their carbon dioxide emissions.

Under the agreement to be announced Wednesday, the Forest Service and the National Forest Foundation will allow individuals or groups to make charitable contributions that will be used to plant trees and do other work to improve national forests.

The Forest Service estimates that the nation's 155 national forests offset about 10 percent of carbon emissions in the United States. Forest Service scientists believe that figure can be raised to as much as 25 percent by doing such things as planting more trees in urban areas or reforesting old cropland.

Under the new program, known as the Carbon Capital Fund, consumers can ''offset'' their carbon emissions by investing in projects on national forests to plant trees and improve water quality, increase wildlife habitat and help restore public lands damaged by natural disasters such as wildfires.

Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell hailed the program, the first of its kind for the federal government. It will allow Americans to learn more about their carbon footprint while helping trees be planted on national forests, she said.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Forest-Service-Climate-Change.html

[dkofos]

1. Corporations rape the land and they want CHARITABLECONTRIBUTIONS

to fix the mess.
While this may make some environmentalists happy it sure doesn't cut it with me.

You want to log in the national forest. Pay US a fee, clean up the mess, and replant the trees.
You want to mine in the national forest. Pay US a fee, clean up the mess and leave the mountain top in it's place.
You want to pasture cattle in the high country. Pay US a fee, clean up the mess and leave the land the way you found it

[AndyTiedye]

2. Can We Have Both?

Your suggestions are all good ones.

Encouraging citizens to contribute to repair the environment is too.

K/R

[dkofos]

3. Citizens pay taxes. They should only have to enjoy the public lands.

[AndyTiedye]

4. Didn't Say anything About "Have To". This is Voluntary

[dkofos]

5. I know. I said it.

[Nay]

6. Why aren't we ever CITIZENS and are always CONSUMERS, even

to the Forest Service, a govt agency? Makes me mad every time I see it.

[EFerrari]

7. Because citizens are a pain; consumers are a market. n/t