Oppose Roadless Area Exemptions For Tongass-Chugach National Forests

Oppose Roadless Area Exemptions For Tongass-Chugach National Forests:

Comments Needed By Thursday, August 14, 2003!

The Bush administration has taken the first procedural swipe at the landmark Roadless Area Conservation Rule by proposing to strip protections from America's great Alaskan temperate rainforests, which represent fully one-quarter of the lands protected under the Rule.

Two simultaneous 30-day public comment periods are currently underway on the Administration's proposed exemptions of the Tongass and Chugach National Forests in Alaska from the Roadless Rule. The Alaska comment periods are the first opportunity the public has to officially comment on the Bush Administration's attempts to gut the Roadless Rule.

Tell the Bush Administration you oppose their plans to exempt the Tongass and Chugach National Forests in Alaska from the Roadless Rule.

* Please send (see the addresses below) an original letter by adding a few of your own words and comments to the sample letter below. Unfortunately, this administration is trying to discredit comments from people like you unless they are personalized.

* If you are unable to send personalized comments, you can also send an online comment at: <http://www.akrain.org/>

There are two separate comment periods occurring simultaneously: one on the proposed temporary exemption of the Tongass National Forest from the Roadless Rule and another on the proposal to permanently exempt the Tongass from the Roadless Rule and extend the exemption to include the Chugach National Forest. Be sure to send copies of your letters to each address listed below so that it will be counted for both comment periods! If you send your comments online through <http://www.akrain.org/>, Alaska Rainforest Campaign will make sure your letters are delivered for both proposals.

Send comments on the proposed exemption regulation of the Tongass National Forest from the Roadless Rule by to:

E-MAIL: <mailto:roadlesstnf [at] fs.fed.us>
FAX: (801) 880-2808
MAIL: Roadless TNF
Content Analysis Team
USDA Forest Service
P.O. Box 22810,
Salt Lake City, UT 84122

Send comments on the advanced notice of public rulemaking proposing to permanently exempt the Tongass from the Roadless Rule and extend the exemption to include the Chugach National Forest to:

E-MAIL: <mailto:roadlessanpr [at] fs.fed.us>
FAX: (801) 880-3311
MAIL: Roadless ANPR
Content Analysis Team
USDA Forest Service
P.O. Box 22777
Salt Lake City, UT 84122

SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear Chief Dale Bosworth,

I strongly support the Roadless Area Conservation Rule as it was issued in January 2001 and oppose the proposed exemptions of the Tongass and Chugach National Forests, our nation's two largest national forests, from the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The Roadless Rule, a landmark conservation policy, has the overwhelming support of the American people. Safeguarding our wild forests from road building, commercial logging, mining and drilling benefits everyone including those who hunt, fish, hike, camp and recreate on these public lands. To exempt America's rainforest - one-quarter of our nation's roadless forests - from protection is unwarranted and unwanted.

The Tongass is the crown jewel of the national forest system -- a remote coastal rainforest unparalleled anywhere on the planet, home to awe-inspiring landscapes and healthy populations of grizzly bears, bald eagles, wild salmon, and other wildlife. The Chugach is home to many world-class wildlands on the Kenai Peninsula, Prince William Sound, and Copper River Delta. Allowing roadbuilding and logging in roadless areas of these rainforests would damage ecosystems, endanger wildlife, and diminish recreational opportunities.

Please accept this as my official comment opposing the proposed temporary exemption of the Tongass National Forest from the Roadless Rule and the advance notice of proposed rulemaking to make permanent the Tongass exemption and extend it to the Chugach National Forest (36 CFR Parts 219 and 294).

Sincerely,
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The link below is another option to directly submit comments through Act For Change's website. Photo Credit: akrain.org