Dear John,
The Tongass National Forest is under attack. Trump and Big Timber opened this
national treasure up to a massive logging operation, which would do irreparable
harm to the environment and the communities that depend on it. We need to act
quickly to save the Tongass Forest! Rush a $10 donation to Friends of the Earth.
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Towering spruce and cedar trees up to 1000 years old, wearing long beards of
lichen and moss. Ice-fields and mighty glaciers. Snow-capped mountain peaks.
Rivers and fjords flowing among thousands of islands. This is Alaska’s Tongass
National Forest. The Tongass is the largest and most pristine forest in the
country -- and the largest remaining temperate rainforest in the world. It is a
sweeping expanse of rugged wilderness unlike anything else.
Sometimes called “The Amazon of America,” this ancient, 17-million-acre
old-growth forest echoes with the sounds of wildlife -- Sitka blacktail deer,
wolves, black and brown bears, moose, and mountain goats. The waterways shelter
porpoises, seals, minke and killer whales, sea otters, and an abundance of fish,
including all five species of pacific salmon. More bald eagles live in this
region than in any other place in the world.
With these resources as the foundation of their ways of life, the forest has
been home to the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people for over 10,000 years. All
this is now under threat, as the United States Forest Service just opened this
forest up to massive logging and industrial development.
Stop big corporations from destroying the Tongass Forest: Donate $10 or more
now!
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will go through immediately:
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[[link removed]]On October 29, Trump’s Forest Service opened more than nine million acres of
Alaska’s Tongass National Forest to loggers. Now, these companies will be able
to build roads through the rainforest and begin to clear-cut the
thousand-year-old red and yellow cedar, Sitka spruce, and Western hemlock trees
that make this national forest so crucial in the fight against climate change.
This decision is a reversal of the 2001 Roadless Rule which is an important
conservation policy with widespread support among conservationists and
scientists. When our forests burn or are clear-cut, wildlife, communities and
the climate suffer. Most of the last remaining wild salmon population and bald
eagles in the Tongass are under threat. And our forests are a critical line of
defense against the climate crisis -- the Tongass alone stores more than 10% of
all carbon consumed by America’s national forests. That’s why they call it “the
lungs of the country.”
For the Indigenous communities that call the forest home, the rollback not only
threatens the forest, it endangers their way of life and the wildlife habitats
that they depend on for survival.
Frankly, the only ones who benefit from destroying our forests are giant
corporations. The timber and mining industries want to clear-cut the Tongass to
increase their profits. TransCanada wants to cut through Canada’s boreal forests
to build the Keystone XL Pipeline. And the big agribusiness companies linked to
the Amazon fires have financial backing from Wall Street giants like BlackRock.
Their plan is dangerous and immoral. It will devastate local economies reliant
on tourism and fishing. It will decimate the sacred lands of local Indigenous
communities. It will crush the habitats of wildlife that calls the Tongass home.
And it will neutralize one of our best defenses against climate change. We can’t
let any of that happen.
We’re running out of time to restore protections for the Tongass and stop the
destruction of forests -- and we need your help.
Help fight the destruction of our forests and the communities and wildlife that
depend on them: Donate $10 or more before it’s too late!
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation
will go through immediately:
Donate $10 immediately
[[link removed]] Donate $5/month immediately
[[link removed]]In a world of increasing climate impacts, our wild places are among our most
important defenses against climate change. When politicians side with polluters
rather than the people, it is our communities that suffer for it. We need to
stand up against those who are trying to roll back environmental protections and
make these crises worse, from Alaska’s Tongass Forest and Arctic Refuge, to the
Gulf Coast.
We’re going up against huge corporations and their powerful cronies in
government -- a daunting task. But with Friends of the Earth Members like you at
our side, I know we can win this fight and protect our climate and wild places.
We have a comprehensive plan to safeguard our public lands, prevent climate
chaos, and support communities on the front lines of this fight:
* We’ve sent thousands of comments to the USDA demanding that it protect the
Tongass from mining and logging. This same strategy stopped the destruction
of several of our national monuments in recent years.
* We’ve launched lawsuits to protect some of America’s most iconic wild spaces
and public lands, and the communities and species that rely on them. This
includes the Arctic Refuge.
* We’re supporting allies in Congress to pass the Roadless Area Conservation
Act to restore protections for the Tongass and ensure that roadless forests
across the country are protected from threats like this.
* We’re pushing Members of Congress to go on the record taking strong stances
against destructive megaprojects. Now, we’re building support for a broader
approach to phase out fossil fuels and rein in Big Industry once and for all.
When we work together, we can do just about anything. But we’re running out of
time to prevent the worst impacts of climate chaos. We’ve got to act fast,
before our most iconic wild places and the biodiversity they support disappear
forever -- and communities around the world are left with poisoned air, polluted
water, scarred land, and an unlivable planet.
John, make a $10 contribution to Friends of the Earth
today, and help protect our forests, climate, and communities.
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation
will go through immediately:
Donate $10 immediately
[[link removed]] Donate $5/month immediately
[[link removed]]Standing with you,
Nicole Ghio,
Senior fossil fuels program manager,
Friends of the Earth
Contact Us:Friends of the Earth U.S.
Washington, D.C. | Berkeley, CA
1-877-843-8687
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