While we gear up for the coming Arctic Refuge showdown, here is an opportunity to press your members of Congress to support permanent protection for Alaska's rainforests. You can send a letter directly from the Alaska Rainforest Campaign website. There are also two sample letters that you can personalize and submit to your local paper on this issue. Please let me know if you submit a letter, and if so, which one did you use and to which paper did you send it. Thanks so much, and keep an eye out for how to help keep the Arctic Refuge protected in the coming weeks... Scott Hed Plains, Prairie & Northland Organizer Alaska Coalition (605) 336-6738 office (605) 351-1646 cell VOICE YOUR SUPPORT FOR WILDERNESS! 1. Bush Administration Plan for Tongass Wilderness - A "Leave-No-Tree-Behind" Policy 2. Action: Voice Your Support - We Can Gain Permanent Protection for Tongass Roadless Areas! Click here (http://www.akrain.org/action/default.asp?news_id=149), or on the "Take Action" button at the top of the Alaska Rainforest Campaign website, to send a letter to your Members of Congress. * * * 1. BUSH ADMINISTRATION PLAN FOR TONGASS ROADLESS AREAS - A "LEAVE-NO-TREE-BEHIND" POLICY Last Friday (2/28/03), the Bush Administration failed to heed the American public's demand to protect Alaska's magnificent Tongass National Forest, signing off on a controversial forest plan revision. The Forest Service reviewed over nine million roadless acres and determined that not a single acre deserved long-term protection, leaving open to logging much of what's left of the largest and oldest trees in the rainforest. The Forest Service's final decision for the Tongass builds off a bad draft plan which failed to recommend any new wilderness and drew widespread criticism in Alaska and nationally. During a public comment period on the draft plan, testimony at Alaska-based public hearings on the plan ran at almost ninety percent in favor of new wilderness protections. In addition, over 175,000 Americans from across the country submitted comments in support of new Tongass wilderness. At the same time as announcing its Tongass decision, the Forest Service reaffirmed a decision made last May to decrease Wilderness recommendations on the Chugach National Forest to levels below protection recommended by the Reagan Administration. The Forest Service announcements last week represent a systematic disregard for protections overwhelming supported by Americans - in and out of Alaska. 2. ACTION: VOICE YOUR OUTRAGE AT THE "ANTI-WILDERNESS" DECISIONS * Click here (http://www.akrain.org/action/default.asp?news_id=149), or on the "Take Action" button at the top of the Alaska Rainforest Campaign website, to send a letter to your Members of Congress. We need Senators and Representatives to seek additional protections for rainforest and continue to oppose any efforts to exempt the Tongass and Chugach National Forests from the Roadless Rule - a critical line of defense FOR the rainforest! A stealth attempt last month in Congress to exempt Alaska's forests from the Roadless Rule - a critical measure of protection - was thwarted thanks to the overwhelming mobilization of calls and letters to Congress from across the country. Our calls, letters and emails do make a difference. Sending a letter to today will help increase support in the House of Representatives for the Alaska Rainforest Conservation Act (HR 979) and cultivate rainforest champions in the Senate. *Send a Letter to Editor of your local paper. Visit the following site - www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/ - to send a letter to the editor by email. Here are a couple of suggested letters that you should feel free to personalize! SAMPLE LETTER 1 Dear Editor, I was deeply dismayed to learn that the Bush Administration has chosen to ignore overwhelming public opinion and scientific research in its decision to recommend no new Wilderness protection for roadless areas in the Tongass National Forest and to reduce recommended protections in the Chugach National Forest. These are our two largest national forests and represent one of the rarest places on earth - a coastal, temperate rainforest. And while they are located in Alaska far from where most of us live, they are National Forests which belong to all of us. The decisions made last week are short-term political decisions benefiting special interests like the logging industry, they are not policies worthy of one of the Earth's most spectacular places. It's time for Congress to step in and make sure what remains of the wild, roadless forests in Alaska are permanently protected for future generations to enjoy. Sincerely, Full name and address SAMPLE LETTER 2 Dear Editor, I am very angry about last week's (2-28-03) news that the Bush Administration has decided to keep open up most of the remaining roadless areas on the Tongass National Forest in Alaska for logging and road building. More than 175,000 people from around the country, including more than 70 members of Congress and 86 percent of the people who testified at hearings in Alaska, told the Forest Service they wanted the agency to keep logging and logging roads out of big blocks of virgin rainforest known as roadless areas. Despite the overwhelming support of the public, the Forest Service under President Bush's watch decided that not one acre of the more than 9 million acres of undeveloped wild forest deserved to be protected as Wilderness. Furthermore, the Bush Administration has indicated that the landmark national Roadless Rule should not include the Tongass. I am hopeful that we will be able to count on Congress to stem the assault on the rainforest which is truly a one-of-a-kind national treasure. Sincerely, Full name and address **** For more information on this alert or other issues relating to the Tongass and Chugach National Forests contact: Laurie Cooper, Forest Program Director, Alaska Coalition ([log in to unmask]). If at anytime you wish to unsubscribe please visit http://www.akrain.org/howtohelp/default.asp where you can easily remove yourself from the list. Thanks for your support. Alaska Rainforest Campaign Staff. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp