Save America's Wildest National Forest

The Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska is a crown jewel of our nation's public lands. Wild salmon, grizzly bears, bald eagles, and wolves thrive among the millions of acres of lush, ancient forests and healthy, intact watersheds. The Tongass also features over 9 million acres of roadless forest lands -- heritage forests that are critical to the survival of many of the species that make their home there.

In a last-minute attack on one of America's wildest and most ecologically valuable national forests, the Bush administration recently adopted a new management plan for the Tongass that leaves 2.3 million acres of pristine roadless areas open to logging, road building, and other development. If implemented, this plan will jeopardize many of the species the Center -- and our e-activists -- have worked to protect. This plan is only the last in a long series of attempts by the current administration to remove protection for the undeveloped roadless lands of the Tongass and across the country.

On May 15, the Center, along with our conservation allies, filed an administrative challenge to the Bush plan asking the Forest Service to protect the roadless areas of the Tongass. Now it's your turn. Please send a letter to Gail Kimbell, chief of the Forest Service, and urge the agency to protect the roadless areas on the Tongass and across the nation.


I write to urge you to adopt a plan for the Tongass National Forest that fully protects all roadless areas on the forest. I am aware that the plan adopted by the Forest Service in January of this year places more than 2 million acres of roadless areas in designations allowing clearcutting and logging roads and that numerous groups have submitted appeals to you seeking protection of these vital places.

The few remaining roadless areas of our national forests are some of the only safe harbors for America's wildlife, and the Tongass contains species that have nearly disappeared from the lower 48. As global warming threatens to dramatically change the landscape, we should be acting to preserve intact forests for future generations, not looking to cut them down.

I urge you to grant the many appeals you have received to the current plan seeking protection of roadless areas and to adopt a plan that recognizes the importance and irreplaceable nature of the Tongass wildlands.