rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/letter/pass-the-roadless-area-conservation-act?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-letter-area-pass-the-roadless-area-conservation-act' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Native Organizers Alliance Action Fund https://actionnetwork.org/groups/native-organizers-alliance https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/groups/default_facebook_images/000/022/886/original/NOA_ActionFundBanner2.png?1668645803 The USDA recently moved to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule, which protects nearly 45 million acres of national forests -- many of which are on ancestral Native homelands. Allowing road construction, logging, and resource extraction in these forests will increase the risk of wildfires and destroy areas crucial to Tribes’ spirituality, culture, and identity. These forests provide clean drinking water for more than 60 million people and are crucial ecosystems for our non-human kin. Removing protections threatens key sources of food as well as fishing and hunting for salmon, deer, and moose. The USDA’s move threatens the Tongass National Forest, which is one of the largest carbon sinks in the United States: It traps and stores massive amounts of carbon dioxide, preventing the gas from entering the atmosphere where it causes climate change. It’s also central to the cultures of many Tribes. Gloria Burns, President of the Ketchikan Indian Community, said: “We the people of Kichxáan are the Tongass. You cannot separate us from the land.” And the Tlingit & Haida Tribes of Alaska wrote: “The Tongass is more than an ecosystem -- it is our home. It is the foundation of our identity, our culture, and our way of life.” As part of the federal government’s legal obligations to respect Tribal sovereignty, Congress must pass the Roadless Area Conservation Act, which would protect these forests and enshrine the 2001 Roadless Rule into law. Click “START WRITING” to send a message directly to your Representative and Senators, urging them to co-sponsor and pass the Roadless Area Conservation Act to protect national forests and Native homelands. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/pass-the-roadless-area-conservation-act