Washington Environmental Council
615 2nd Ave
Suite 380
Seattle, WA 98104

Attention:   Becky Kelley


To whom it may concern:

Re:   Bill HB 2733, Forest Certification

    Greetings. We of Earth Ministry are a Christian, environmental non-profit in Seattle. Earth Ministry has about 1620 members and works with 108 congregations located in the Puget Sound area. We are writing to you today to express pur concern for the value of standing forests.

    Standing forests are invaluable. They clean our air and water, harbor fish and wildlife, stabilize our climate, and offer recreational uses and a variety of other ecosystem services. When logged conventionally, with large clear cuts and no local landscape planning, these benefits are unnecessarily sacrificed.

    I write to ask you to promote forest management practices that have the whole picture in mind; to promote a system that takes trees while leaving the forest intact.

    Please vote to both leave our forests intact and promote sustainable economic activity. Our children and grand children, will be forever grateful (as will our salmon, Bald Eagles and all life forms that make the Pacific Northwest so special). Such a vote will support the recommendations of the Governors Sustainable Washington Advisory Panel to move Washington, within a generation, toward a sustainable economy that simultaneously builds economic, social and natural capital. Ultimately this is our moral responsibility.

    Thank you for your time and we urge you to vote for House Bill 2733.


Sincerely,

Earth Ministry