Tell Our Senators: Protect Tongass, Pass Roadless Area Conservation Act

From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):

Trees that are older than America itself — some as old as 1,000 years — are being clear-cut by the logging industry.¹

Alaska is home to the largest remaining temperate rainforest, but the forest’s protections and its ancient trees are currently at risk. The Tongass National Forest has lost more than 50 percent of its old-growth trees since the 1950s.²

We’re urging the U.S. Senate to save the Tongass National Forest and protect all national forests by passing the Roadless Area Conservation Act. This bill is under consideration right now and is our best chance to protect these critical areas. Our senators need to hear from you. Will you join us?

Tell our U.S. senators to keep trees standing tall in the Tongass National Forest at https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=29751.

The logging industry has been clamoring to gain access to the wild, roadless areas of the Tongass National Forest since they were first granted protection under the Roadless Rule more than 17 years ago. And now the logging industry may get its wish. The state of Alaska has asked the Trump administration to exempt the Tongass from the Roadless Rule.

The Roadless Area Conservation Act, currently being considered by Congress, would end this and all future attempts to open the forest to logging and would preserve some of America’s oldest forests.³

The Tongass is one of the few truly wild public lands we have left. These primeval groves make up an entire ecosystem. More than 300 different species of birds, including bald eagles, perch in their branches. Moose, deer and bears stroll between the trunks. Salmon dart through roots along the banks of glacier-fed rivers that cut through the forest.^4,5

Much of the Tongass remains largely untamed — but if the logging industry gets its way, it won’t be for long. We’re working to keep our wild places wild. The Senate should be too.

Send your message to our senators today: Save America’s largest national forest from logging!

PennEnvironment and our national network have a long-standing record of protecting wild, untamed areas in our national forests. We collected nearly half of the record 1.6 million public comments that led to the passage of the Roadless Rule in the first place.

Now, we’re pulling out all the stops, once again, to keep the Tongass and all the wild, roadless lands in our national forests safe. It’s important that our decision-makers hear from experts on the issue, so we’ve engaged hundreds of scientists with expertise in forestry and conservation. And we’re collecting thousands of public comments from members and supporters like you.

The real opportunity here is the Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2018, which will protect the most untamed, wild parts of the Tongass National Forest and other national forests. Don’t wait to send a clear message to Congress — they need to know that the Tongass is irreplaceable.

Tell our U.S. senators to support the Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2018 and protect some of the oldest forests in the U.S.

1. Brendan Jones, “Trees older than America: a primeval Alaskan forest is at risk in the Trump era,” The Guardian, March 22, 2018.
2. Tracy Stein, “Preservation of Tongass National Forest is crucial to our national climate change policy,” The Hill, March 27, 2018.
3. Senator Cantwell, “Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2018,” The United States Senate, 2018.
4. “Conservation: Tongass National Forest,” Audubon Alaska, accessed November 15, 2018.
5. “Tongass National Forest: Glaciers,” United States Department of Agriculture, accessed November 15, 2018.