Will We Let Logging Silence the Song of Our Forests?

STEWARDS OF OUR EARTH

All of God’s Creation

Social Justice Committee, Holy Cross Parish, Mt. Airy, December 14, 2025

Photo credit: reijotelaranta. (2021, September 7). Forestry Timber Logging.

“For almost 25 years, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule has protected millions of acres of wild forest from road construction, logging and mining." (ref) These are the forests where more than 200 threatened and endangered species live, where ancient trees filter drinking water for millions of Americans and where the public can enjoy nature at its wildest.(ref)

Right now, the Forest Service is attempting to eradicate protections for these special places. If the protections are repealed, logging trucks and mining equipment could mow down the trees that make these forests so spectacular.” (Lisa Frank, Exec. Director, Environment America, 12/1/25)

“Roadbuilding and logging in roadless forests will fragment habitats; disrupt wildlife migration routes; introduce invasive species; and bring noise, dust, pollution, and human pressure deep into the quiet backcountry, threatening already vulnerable and endangered plants and animals. Once these areas are gone, they’re gone forever.” (Center for Biological Diversity, 8/29/25)

“… Our nation's forests [also] absorb 12 percent of the nation's CO₂ emissions each year…. Forest conservation alone cannot solve climate change, but it is one of our strongest tools and is a win for both people and the planet.” (Sara Barth, Executive Director, Sempervirens Fund, 9/4/25) 

“Our wild forests are too precious to leave unprotected. It's time for Congress to pass the Roadless Area Conservation Act and enshrine the Roadless Rule into law, permanently safeguarding these special places.”(ref) Speak up before logging silences our wild forests. (Lisa Frank, Exec. Director, Environment America, 12/1/25)

To more clearly appreciate the critical need for forests, we can look back to the Dust Bowl, a period of severe dust storms that devastated the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. “Imagine a wall of dust stretching ten thousand feet high, racing across the land at sixty miles per hour. In the 1930s, this was daily life in America’s heartland, a man-made disaster so devastating it choked entire communities, killed livestock, and forced millions to flee...” (New Advent, Why America Built a Wall of 220 Million Trees From Canada to Texas, 8/7/25) Watch the video here. In the end, the trees saved the Plains!

“I don’t know if you know this, but trees are like us. They talk like us. This is why I’m very careful about cutting them down. People hurt them a lot. If I cut down a tree, the kin will ask, ‘Why did you kill my brother?’” (Ntoni, leader of the Kisêdjê people, 2008)

Comments on this column may be directed to the Social Justice Committee at socialjustice@holycrossphl.org. Click here for column archive.