John,

For thousands of years, woodland caribou have found refuge beneath the trees of the boreal forest.

But this once tranquil forest now reverberates with the whirs of chainsaws as the timber industry slices away at the only home these creatures have ever known.

There's still time to save the boreal and the unique creatures that call it home, but we must act fast -- one and a half football fields of forest are logged from the boreal every minute.1

Donate to our Earth Day 2025 Drive to help us preserve the boreal forest and give the caribou that rely upon it a fighting chance.

Woodland caribou are perfectly adapted for life in the remote boreal. They maneuver with ease through ancient forests too dense for moose and deer, munching on lichen that clings to low branches of spruce and tamarack. When winter snow blankets the forest floor, they use their sharp hooves to paw through the ice for food.2

But the demand for timber has upset the delicate ecosystem these caribou have evolved alongside.

Since 1976, logging in Ontario and Quebec alone has resulted in the loss of an area of forest equivalent in size to New York State.3

Great expanses of forest are now marred by acres of barren earth, and the caribou are struggling as a result. Of the 21 caribou herds in the central boreal, 19 are now considered at risk of population collapse.4

The way of life for these caribou is in jeopardy. Help us reach our Earth Day Drive 2025 goal of $75,000 so we can strengthen our campaigns defending the boreal and the animals that call it home.

Most of the wood logged from the boreal is turned into lumber and wood pulp, meaning that once valiant trees are being distributed and sold as plywood and paper towels.5

We're urging companies such as Home Depot and Costco to commit to not sourcing wood products from critical habitat within the boreal forest.

Logging in the boreal isn't just destroying caribou habitat -- it's also eroding a critical line of defense against climate change. The trees of the boreal store more than 700 gigatons of carbon that would otherwise be warming our atmosphere.6

The continued existence of these special creatures is worth so much more than cheap lumber and slightly softer toilet paper. But if logging companies keep cutting down the boreal forest, the caribou would lose their homes for good.

There's only one place where boreal woodland caribou can live -- help us save it with a donation today.

Thank you,

Ellen Montgomery

1. Ellen Montgomery and Sammy Herdman, "Threatened by logging, the boreal forest needs our help," Environment America, September 27, 2022.
2. "Woodland caribou -- boreal population," Natural Resources Canada, last accessed April 2, 2025.
3. Ian Austen and Vjosa Isai, "Canada's Logging Industry Devours Forests Crucial to Fighting Climate Change," The New York Times, January 4, 2024.
4. Ian Austen and Vjosa Isai, "Canada's Logging Industry Devours Forests Crucial to Fighting Climate Change," The New York Times, January 4, 2024.
5. Sammy Herdman, "Home improvement retailers can help save our forests," Environment America, January 19, 2022.
6. Ian Austen and Vjosa Isai, "Canada's Logging Industry Devours Forests Crucial to Fighting Climate Change," The New York Times, January 4, 2024.

Your donation will be used to support all of our campaigns to protect the environment, from saving the bees and protecting public lands, to standing up for clean water and fighting climate change. None of our work would be possible without supporters like you. Environment Colorado may transfer up to $50 per dues-paying member per year into the Environment Colorado Small Donor Committee.