Conclusion
America’s remaining native forests, some of which
include the last temperate rainforests on Earth, are concentrated on publicly-owned
lands entrusted by the citizens of this nation to the care of the government.
Ironically, Congress and the Administration are encouraging efforts by
timber corporations to liquidate the last of these irreplaceable and biologically
vital ecosystems. Forests are a complex relationship between thousands
of diverse plant and animal species - a result of millions of years of
evolutionary processes. They have endured fire, disease, insects,
drought, and natural selection. The North American continent was
once blanketed with these rich and thriving forests. Today, only
scarce remnants exist. Once they are gone, these self-sustainingforest
ecosystems and the genetic base they house will be lost forever.
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