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America's Last Great Rainforest Needs Your Help!
America's last great temperate rainforest -- Alaska's Tongass National Forest -- is once again under assault from the timber industry and its allies. The Bush administration has recommended that more than 9 million acres -- more than one-half of this spectacular old growth forest -- receive absolutely no protection whatsoever, opening the doors for big timber and mining interests who want to exploit this national treasure.
A New York Times editorial called the Bush administration proposal "an insult".
With more than 30 timber sales moving forward in the Tongass, we need you to take action now!
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Protect The Tongass -- Adopt the Alaska Rainforest Conservation Proposal (Alternative 6)!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
RE: TLMP Revision Draft SEIS, Roadless Area Evaluation for Wilderness
I strongly disagree with the Forest Service's "no action" recommendation in the Tongass Forest Plan. Your recommendation would leave open enormous stretches of wild forest lands to development and activities that would damage ecosystems, endanger wildlife, and diminish recreational opportunities. It also ignores the wishes of the vast majority of Americans, like me, who support protection of roadless areas in our national forests.
The Tongass is the crown jewel of the National Forest System -- a remote coastal rainforest unparalleled anywhere on the planet, home to awe-inspiring landscapes and healthy populations of grizzly bears, bald eagles, wild salmon, and other wildlife. Yet after the Forest Service evaluated over 9 million wild, pristine acres in the Tongass, it proposes that *none* of these areas receive permanent protection as wilderness.
I strongly urge you to adopt the Alaska Rainforest Conservation Proposal (Alternative 6), a sensible policy that permanently safeguards -- for this and future generations -- magnificent wilderness areas in the Tongass National Forest.
Alternative 6 protects valuable old-growth stands and other pristine areas of the Tongass. These areas are vital to wildlife and people. The roadless areas of the Tongass support subsistence and sport hunting, fishing, wildlife viewing, and wilderness tourism and recreation. Protecting these areas assures that the Tongass will continue to provide habitat for wildlife and the pristine water that supports Southeast Alaska's salmon fishery.
Again, I urge the Forest Service to stand up to the timber industry and choose Alternative 6 to permanently protect this national treasure.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
August 01, 2002
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The Tongass National Forest stretches for 500 miles along Alaska's spectacular southeastern coastline. A dramatic landscape of glacial fjords, volcanic mountains, misty rainforests, giant conifers, and luxurious tundra, the Tongass -- at 17 million acres the largest U.S. national forest -- contains rich salmon spawning grounds and prime grizzly bear habitat. It also boasts the world's densest population of bald eagles.
Because of the unique nature of the Tongass, a federal court required the Bush Administration to review all roadless areas for permanent protection. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration rejected a variety of sound environmental options. Instead, it recommended a proposal that heavily favors the commercial timber industry by recommending no protection for roadless areas and offering no new wilderness designations.
The better alternative, which the Bush administration should be adopting, is the Alaska Rainforest Conservation Proposal, Alternative 6, a sensible alternative that safeguards valuable old-growth stands and other pristine areas of the Tongass.
Time is short and the deadline for your comments is approaching. Please, join me today in sending a loud and clear message to the Bush Administration: Our national forests are national treasures and once they're gone, they're gone forever.
Sincerely,
Jane Danowitz, Director
Heritage Forests Campaign
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