More than 40 million acres of forested lands in America - including major watersheds - are expected to be lost to development by 2030. Few communities have the necessary capacity to conserve forestlands that protect their water supplies and enhance recreational opportunities, scenic beauty and quality of life for local residents.

Many affected communities are responding to this challenge by establishing community forests to keep forested parcels intact.

The federal government can be an important catalyst for these efforts and encourage state, local and private funding sources to conserve threatened community forests and open spaces.

Community forests can provide an increasingly urban and suburban population with opportunities to enjoy forests close to home. These forests are essential for future generations to experience and learn about forests and the wonders of nature.

The Community Forest Conservation Program will help American communities conserve forests important for watershed protection, outdoor recreation, wildlife habitat and sustainable forest management. The program would:

• Establish community forests that would be owned by communities,
• Have a management plan subject to a public process,
• Provide technical assistance to communities for community forest management, and,
• Be established under the U.S. Forest Service in cooperation with appropriate state and local government.

The Healthy Forests Reserve Program helps landowners conserve and restore forests to provide habitat for threatened and endangered species, and the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program provides technical and financial assist to help improve habitat for wildlife on private lands.

Please call your Representative today (you can find contact information here) or Go Back and send a letter.  If you'd like to write your own and send it by mail, feel free to use our sample for guidance.

Sample Letter

Dear Representative:

I'm contacting you today because you have the chance to vote 'yes' on two important amendments to the 2007 Farm Bill; Congresswoman Gillibrand's amendment to create a Community Forest Conservation Program and Congressman Shuler's amendment to increase funding to the Healthy Forest Restoration and Wildlife Habitat Improvement Programs.

I believe in helping communities that are helping themselves, and helping landowners who want to help wildlife. This is exactly what these programs do by providing federal assistance to help communities acquire and manage threatened forest lands, and help landowners restore forests and improve habitat for wildlife. I ask you to vote in favor of these amendments and to do everything you can to guide them through full approval by the House.

Forestland and wildlife habitat are disappearing at an astonishing rate, but there's still time to protect wildlife and our quality of life by preserving and restoring forestland and wildlife habitat in our district through Congresswoman Gillibrand's and Congressman Shuler's amendments.

Sincerely,
[your name and address]