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Don't Log the Old-Growth Tongass
As a result of an Earthjustice suit, the Forest Service is under court order to review nine million acres of pristine rain forest for its wilderness potential. On May 17, 2002, the Bush Administration issued a draft of its review, which suggested that none of the nine million unprotected roadless acres of the Tongass National Forest deserved wilderness status. This wild and pristine coastal rainforest is unique in the world but, unless protected, many roadless areas will be subjected to road building and logging. The Forest Service is accepting public comments on its draft until August 17, 2002 and will issue a final recommendation later this fall. Tell the Forest Service to protect the Tongass before we lose this irreplaceable treasure.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Draft SEIS for Evaluation of Roadless Areas for Wilderness Recommendations on the Tongass
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I disagree with the Forest Service's draft recommendation in the Tongass Forest Plan Revision Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Evaluation of Roadless Areas for Wilderness Recommendations. Selection of the "no action" alternative would fail to recognize the need for permanent protection of the remaining pristine coastal rainforest and would favor the commercial timber industry over other users of the Tongass.
I urge you to adopt the Tongass Wilderness Plan Alternative 6 --Alaska Rainforest Conservation Act wilderness proposal to protect these wildlands. This alternative safeguards, for this and future generations, magnificent wilderness areas in the Tongass National Forest. The protection afforded by this alternative is what the American people want. The public has spoken out in favor of strong protection of roadless areas on the Tongass and throughout the National Forest system.
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 choose Alternative #6 to protect all areas in the Alaska Rainforest Conservation Wilderness proposal.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
August 06, 2002
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As a result of a successful action by Earthjustice, the U.S. Forest Service was ordered by the federal courts to revisit its management blueprint for the Tongass National Forest. (Read about our success: http://www.earthjustice.org/accomplishments/display.html?ID=83). The revised Tongass Land Management Plan was ruled illegal because it failed to consider long-term protection of Tongass wildlands under the National Wilderness Preservation System.
In response to the court order, the Bush Administration looked at the over 9 million acres of the Tongass not permanently protected--some of the wildest, most pristine forest in the world. It released a draft wilderness review on May 17, in which it recommended that not one acre of the roadless areas under review deserved permanent protection as Wilderness. (Review the Plan at: http://www.tongass-seis.net/seis/index.html).
This new Tongass Wilderness review and the opening of a 90-day comment period provides us with an opportunity to safeguard the remaining unprotected temperate old-growth forests in the Tongass and highlight--once again--the public's support for roadless forests. The Forest Service is accepting public comments on its draft recommendation until August 17, 2002. Public meetings will be held this summer in communities throughout SE Alaska. Following this 90-day public review period, the Forest Service expects to issue its final decision sometime late this year.
One of the alternatives presented in the draft wilderness study--called Alternative 6 by the Forest Service--is based on a bill introduced this year in Congress, HR 2908, and supported by members of the Alaska Rainforest Campaign, including Earthjustice. Under this alternative, the Forest Service would recommend to Congress the protection of the remaining roadless areas of the Tongass as designated Wilderness areas or as wildlands closed to logging. (For a map of areas protected under Alt. 6, go to: http://www.tongass-seis.net/alt6.html). Strong public comment in favor of Alternative 6 will support protection efforts in the Congress as well as before the Forest Service.
Visit the website for the Alaska Rainforest Campaign for more information: http://www.akrain.org/rainforest/tongass/default.asp
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