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"Congress Debates the Endangered Species Act"
May-June, 1995

In recent years, federal courts have turned the well-intended Endangered Species Act into a powerful weapon routinely misused by environmentalists to block timber harvesting, even harvesting designed to protect habitat.

Editor Jim Petersen taps into the region's anger in "The Boiling Point Nears." Then "Noah's Choice" authors Charles Mann and Mark Plummer take over in an article that details problems with the Act, and what can be done to fix it. Syndicated columnist, Alston Chase, who wrote "Playing God in Yellowstone," then critiques "Noah's Choice," expressing disappointment over the fact that it "draws back when it should go for the jugular." In a concluding article, geneticist Dr. Bill Libby, declares, "Radiata pine breeders in New Zealand probably help save more species from extinction in a month than most American conservationists help save in their lifetimes."

"Unleashing the Power of Forestry" is an instructive photo feature documenting Weyerhaeuser's success in restoring its forests in the aftermath of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Such work would not be possible today, given the manner in which courts are interpreting the Endangered Species Act. This issue is must reading for anyone who is trying to understand a good law, gone bad.