Dear Member of Congress:

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan, budget watchdog group, urges you to co-sponsor the National Forest Roadless Conservation Act of 2007. This truly bi-partisan legislation would bring a measure of fiscal responsibility to our national forest system lands by preventing money-losing timber sales and helping to reduce a growing maintenance backlog for our national forest roads.

Economists and numerous government reports over the past decade have illustrated a pattern of fiscal mismanagement and problems with U.S. Forest Service accounting practices. The National Forest System contains over 380,000 miles of roads and 60,000 miles of unmapped logging roads, which were built with U.S. taxpayer funds. Yet only 21 percent of these roads are accessible by a passenger car. This bill would enable the Forest Service to tackle the estimated $10 billion backlog of road maintenance in the existing roads system, and prevent the building of additional roads that would only exacerbate this problem.

An unsustainable road maintenance backlog, a continually failing timber program, and a poor record of financial accountability have resulted in billions of taxpayer dollars being wasted. Help keep additional subsidized roads from being built in our national forests by signing onto this legislation.

The National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2007 is a positive step in the direction of fiscal responsibility. Once again, we urge you to join many of your colleagues in supporting this important piece of legislation. To become an original co-sponsor, please contact Tracy Nagelbush in Rep. Inslee’s office at 5-6311, or Andria Hoffman in Rep. Kirk’s office at 5-4835.

If you would like to discuss this issue further, please contact me or Demian Moore on my staff at (202) 546-8500 x118, or demian@taxpayer.net.

Sincerely,

Ryan Alexander
President