John,

The U.S. Forest Service continues its assault on our public lands. In September the agency finalized a proposal to open more than 9 million pristine acres of Alaska's Tongass National Forest to clearcut logging and bulldozing for roads, degrading one of the largest intact temperate rainforests remaining in the world.

This poses a terrible danger not only to the Tongass but to national forests across the country. It would set a precedent for rolling back the 2001 Roadless Rule, whose protections explicitly bar such destruction.

Tell your representative in Congress to cosponsor the Roadless Area Conservation Act to reverse this attack on the Tongass and permanently limit logging and road building on 50 million acres of wild national forests.

The Forest Service's rollback of the Roadless Rule in Alaska threatens habitat for grizzly and black bears, rare Alexander Archipelago wolves and salmon. And it would deal a painful blow to one of our greatest defenses against climate change: the boon of this forest's centuries-old trees, which store vast amounts of carbon.

Our allies in Congress have introduced the Roadless Area Conservation Act to restore protections for the Tongass and ensure that roadless forests in the lower 48 don't fall victim to similar schemes.

Stand up for roadless forests across the country. Tell Congress to support this critical legislation.