Tell Your US Representative to Support the Roadless Area Conservation Act to Protect Forests

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

The Tongass National Forest is home to some of the most breathtaking landscapes and animals in the world, from its salmon-rich mountain streams to the black and brown bears that hunt beneath its trees.

The Roadless Rule has successfully protected much of the Tongass since it was established in 2001, but when the Trump administration repealed those protections, we saw how fragile that safety can be.¹

Conservation shouldn’t change with each administration. That’s why we’re working to pass the Roadless Area Conservation Act, which would forever protect irreplaceable intact forest areas in places like the Tongass.

We need to permanently protect our roadless areas. Tell your U.S. House representative to support the Roadless Area Conservation Act and protect our forests at https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=49786.

And the Roadless Area Conservation Act wouldn’t just protect the Tongass. The bill would permanently protect 58.5 million acres of national forest from logging and development. That’s more than 30% of our national forest system.²

Protecting these areas could have incredible conservation results, preserving important habitat for hundreds of species of wildlife.³

From the caribou to the golden-crowned kinglet, the best thing we can do to protect these creatures is to protect the land they call home.

That’s why we need to pass the Roadless Area Conservation Act. Tell Congress to support this bill today.

Forests like the Tongass aren’t just important for wildlife. They’re a crucial climate solution. Old and mature trees are incredible carbon sinks that we can’t afford to lose.⁴

The Tongass holds 9.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide, nearly twice the amount of U.S. emissions from burning fossil fuels each year.⁵

Protecting irreplaceable forests is necessary to preserving biodiversity and endangered wildlife, but it’s also the ultimate climate solution — one that we don’t need to invent or build. We just need to protect these trees and let them grow.

The forest needs your help: Support for the Roadless Area Conservation Act.

1. Becky Bohrer, “Feds will ‘repeal or replace’ Trump-era decision to lift logging, road building restrictions in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest,” USA Today, June 11, 2021.
2. “Cantwell Announces Legislation to Permanently Preserve Pristine National Forest Lands,” Office of Sen. Maria Cantwell, January 21, 2021.
3. Tara Lohan, “Can Roadless Areas Help Stem the Extinction Crisis in the United States?” The Revelator, January 5, 2022.
4. John Stout, “Saving our largest old-growth forest,” Environment America, December 8, 2021.
5. Juliet Eilperin, “This tree has stood here for 500 years. Will it be sold for $17,500?” The Washington Post, December 30, 2021.