John,

Alaska's Tongass National Forest is one of the few places left in the country where you can take shelter beneath Sitka spruce and western redcedars that are 600, 800, or even 1,000 years old.1

But these ancient trees are in trouble. The Alaska timber industry is pushing for more logging in the Tongass, including cutting down old-growth trees.2

Help us keep these incredible trees standing with a donation to Environment Colorado's Earth Day 2025 Drive. Until midnight tomorrow, your gift will be matched, up to $50,000 nationwide.

The Tongass is renowned for its trees, some older than the country, that stand sentry over fjords and archipelagos. But these trees have become increasingly rare.

Tucked between verdant mountains and peppered across the forested islands are acres of exposed land and stunted second growth -- scars from more than a century of logging throughout the forest.3

Across these landscapes are massive stumps -- all that remain from a generation of stolen giants.4

We can't go back in time to halt the logging of the Tongass's lost trees, but we can work to preserve and sustain the forest's next generation of old-growth -- in fact, that's exactly what we've been doing.

Through years of organizing across the country, Environment Colorado and our national network helped secure the Roadless Rule in 2001. This rule prohibited the construction of new logging roads in the Tongass and protected 9.2 million acres of its trees.5

The Tongass has survived so much, yet the timber industry continues to press for the expansion of logging across this precious ecosystem -- including in areas with old-growth.

Help us defend the Tongass: Donate before midnight tomorrow to have your gift matched, up to $50,000 nationwide.

So many depend on the giant trees of the Tongass. Their branches shade the streams where salmon spawn, and shelter the bald eagles that return to the same tree each year to raise their young.6,7

The Tongass also absorbs about 8% of the pollution produced in the U.S. annually and captures more carbon than all of our other national forests combined.8

Despite being targeted by the logging industry, the Tongass remains resilient. From the stumps of giants cut long ago, pliant pea green shoots of seedlings sprout, their roots absorbing the nutrients stored within their ancestors' remains.

Join us and help preserve this majestic forest with a donation to our Earth Day 2025 Drive.

Together, we can give the next generation of Tongass giants the chance to touch the sky.

Thank you,

Ellen Montgomery

1. Brendan Jones, "Trees older than America: a primeval Alaskan forest is at risk in the Trump era," The Guardian, March 22, 2018.
2. Marc Heller, "Lawsuit seeks return to Tongass old-growth logging," E&E News by Politico, March 18, 2025.
3. Jacob Resneck, Eric Stone, Edward Boyda and Clayton Aldern, "Road to Ruin," Grist, March 28, 2022.
4. Amy Gulick, "Tongass National Forest: Remains of the rainforest," Sierra Magazine, November 2, 2001.
5. Ellen Montgomery, "What is the roadless rule and what does it mean for the Tongass?," Environment America, January 25, 2023.
6. Amy Gulick, "The Majestic Alaskan Rain Forest in Trump's Crosshairs," The New Republic, November 5, 2020.
7. "Tongass advises keeping distance from eagles and other birds during nesting," U.S. Forest Service, March 9, 2012.
8. Heide Brandes, "An ancient forest in Alaska loses environmental protections," National Geographic, October 30, 2020.

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.