New York Senators Would Save Puerto Rican Forest Wilderness

WASHINGTON, DC, May 5, 2004 (ENS) - A bill has been introduced in the U.S. Senate that would designate much of Puerto Rico's Caribbean National Forest El Yunque as the El Toro Wilderness. If passed into law, the designation would prohibit logging, road construction, power lines, and other development that would hurt rare species and spoil drinking water.

Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, both New York Democrats, on Earth Day introduced The Caribbean National Forest Act of 2004 to create the El Toro Wilderness - the only tropical forest wilderness in the U.S. National Forest system.

A companion bill has been introduced in the House by Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner, Anibal Acevedo-Vila. During a House hearing on this measure last summer, the U.S. Forest Service edxpressed its support for the designation of the El Toro Wilderness Area.

El Yunque has long been recognized as a special area, worthy of protection, said Senator Clinton, whose state is inhabited by many people of Puerto Rican ancestry.

"El Yunque is the oldest and most beloved protected forest in Puerto Rico," Senator Schumer said. "It deserves to be named a special conservation zone so that its valuable natural resources are protected from hazardous development and Puerto Rico maintains a safe supply of drinking water for generations to come."

The Caribbean National Forest Act would add approximately 10,000 acres of El Yunque to the National Wilderness Preservation System, a designation that prohibits intrusive activities, such as logging, road construction, power lines, or other human developments. The wilderness area would be named the El Toro Wilderness, after the highest peak in El Yunque.

Though the Wilderness system includes over 105 million acres, the El Toro Wilderness Area would be the first in Puerto Rico.

The Caribbean National Forest has long been recognized as a special area, worthy of protection. The Spanish Crown proclaimed much of the current Caribbean National Forest as a forest reserve in 1824. One hundred years ago, President Theodore Roosevelt reasserted the protection of the Caribbean National Forest by designating the area as a forest reserve.

Located 25 miles east of San Juan, the Caribbean National Forest is a biologically diverse area. Although it is the smallest forest in the national forest system, the Caribbean National Forest has 240 species of native trees, more than any other national forest.

The Caribbean National Forest also has 50 varieties of orchids and over 150 species of ferns. The area is rich in wildlife with over 100 species of vertebrates, including the endangered Puerto Rican parrot.

The only native parrot in Puerto Rico, these numbered nearly one million at the time that Columbus set sail for the New World. Today there are fewer than 35 Puerto Rican parrots in existence.

The Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Puerto Rico's Department of Natural Resources and the Environment have initiated a recovery program for the Puerto Rican Parrot. Wilderness designation will ensure that the forest home to the parrot will remain protected and the ongoing recovery efforts, consistent with the Wilderness Act, will continue.

The Caribbean National Forest receives over 10 feet of rain each year. As a result, the major watersheds in the forest are able to provide water to over 800,000 residents of Puerto Rico.

In addition, the Caribbean National Forest provides a variety of recreational opportunities to over 700,000 Puerto Ricans and tourists each year. Families, friends and school groups come to the forest to hike, bird watch, picnic, swim and enjoy the scenic vistas. Wilderness designation of the El Toro will protect approximately one third of the forest.