Friend,

The Tongass National Forest -- our last remaining intact temperate rainforest -- needs our help.

Rooted with trees older than America itself, 9.2 million acres of this 17-million-acre Alaskan wilderness was opened to logging by the Trump administration. Now, we have the opportunity to permanently protect this ancient forest from future development, but we need your help.

The Tongass not only serves as habitat for some of our country's most emblematic creatures -- including the grizzly bear, moose and the majestic bald eagle -- it's also a climate-change-fighting powerhouse. That's why we're pulling out all the stops to restore Roadless Rule protections for this special place and stop any future sale of old-growth timber from the Tongass National Forest.

We've set a goal of raising $50,000 this Giving Tuesday to protect the Tongass. Donate before the deadline at midnight tonight to make a difference.

The time to protect the Tongass is now. Will you make your Giving Tuesday gift before midnight tonight?

A place as precious as the Tongass shouldn't be clear-cut to make more doorjambs or crown molding.1 This misty, green forest is a critical habitat for thousands of species, including many that are endangered. It is also responsible for curbing the climate crisis by storing hundreds of millions of tons of carbon -- nearly 45% of all carbon stored and absorbed by all forests in the National Forest System.2

But this isn't the story the logging industry is telling. Industry representatives have flooded area newspapers touting the financial gain to be had in stripping the Tongass of its resources.3,4

We can't let them destroy this special place.

Friend, we have what it takes to protect the Tongass. In 2001, our national network helped win the Roadless Rule, which protected the Tongass and other national forests from logging. We gathered and delivered nearly 700,000 public comments -- nearly half of all comments submitted -- from our members and supporters.

We've worked to defend the Tongass ever since, taking the Trump administration to court when it tried to resume logging, and rallying public support for this incredible forest.

Now it's time to take this one step further. As the USDA accepts public input on its plan to fully reinstate Roadless Rule protections for the Tongass, we need to make our voices heard so we can permanently safeguard this precious land from development.

But we can't defend the Tongass without your support.

None of our work to save the Tongass would be possible without you. Make a donation today to help protect this special place.

Thank you,

Rex Wilmouth
Senior Program Director

1. Brendan Jones, "Trees older than America: a primeval Alaskan forest is at risk in the Trump era," The Guardian, March 22, 2018.
2. Sage Smiley, "Tongass holds more than 40% of all carbon stored by national forests," KTOO, April 1, 2021.
3. Robert Venables and Bill Jeffress, "Why we need to support access and resource development in the Tongass National Forest," Anchorage Daily News, September 6, 2021.
4. Robert Venables and Bill Jeffress, "Commentary: Roadless Rule will hinder mineral exploration in the Tongass," The Cordova Times, September 6, 2021.

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.