WASHINGTON  -  Even in rural Missouri – it is nice to get away from town and get back to nature. 

There is nothing better on a holiday weekend than loading up the family car and heading to a campground, hiking trails, or state parks.  The right of the public to use and access public lands is essential to our enjoyment of the natural resources surrounding us.

For both recreation and educational purposes, Southern Missouri offers us ample
opportunities to enjoy the outdoors.  From snowmobiling to river rafting, from birdwatching to trail riding to deer hunting, Missouri has natural wonders our federal, state, and local tax dollars support and maintain.

Our natural resources are also a great source of economic wealth to Missourians.  Our
forests are the source of timber and agriculture, our lakes and streams support tourism and fisheries. 

 
In fact, the forest products industry in Missouri employs more than 34,000 people and
contributes about $3 billion to the state economy each year.  Many of these jobs are part of family-owned-and-operated businesses in small towns near the Mark Twain National Forest.  Furthermore, rural counties receive a share of the revenues generated from the national Forest System to fund county school and road projects.

Rural counties in Southern Missouri could be drastically affected by policies that reduce
access to public lands and undermine multiple-use policy.

The Roadless Area Protection Plan is a current rule adversely affecting our use of  natural resources in Missouri.  It disregards our public right to access these lands by limiting road construction and reconstruction, timber management, and other activities in certain areas of our forests.  If you have traveled some of the same roads I have in Southern Missouri, you know the severe need for improvement to our transportation infrastructure.  The last thing we need is a federal policy standing in our way of needed reconstruction.

 

Congress is actively working for commonsense policies to preserve our public lands, as well as to keep them public for recreation and economic purposes.

Responsible and active management protects our forests from disease and fires,
provides for timber management, and makes our natural resources available for sportsmen.  The House of Representatives will soon finalize appropriations legislation for the Department of Interior.  This bill will go to President Bush’s desk for approval to continue operating smart forest management programs.

Another measure, the Healthy Forest Initiative, implements new forest management
techniques.  Using advancements in science and technology, we can strike a balance between our recreational and economic needs from the forest while preserving its magnificence for the future.

A major part of the Healthy Forest Initiative is fire prevention and fire preventative fuels treatment.  Since 2000, funds available to fight fires have increased by 55 percent.  Tree
thinning and removal of underbrush can ensure thriving forests while drastically reducing the risk of fires and the dangers they pose to firefighters, communities, and the environment.  Last year, federal land management agencies treated a record
2.25 million acres, and this year, we have already surpassed that mark.

The care of our forests and natural resources are entrusted to all of us, but the U.S.
Forest Service is primarily responsible for the care of our federal lands.  In Missouri, our Forest Rangers do an excellent job keeping the Mark Twain National Forest healthy and safe. 

 
We must take the same care with the public lands entrusted to us, while at the same
time we reap the rewards of living in a beautiful, open part of the country.  There are many ways in which we can help manage and preserve public lands: litter control, adherence to campground regulations, and advocacy for wise use are just a few ways in which we make this land our land.