Please
come!
Tongass
National Forest
Alaska's Rainforest--A wonder of nature
Central Iowa Sierra Program
Where: Urbandale Public Library
3520 - 86th
Street, Urbandale
When: Saturday March 31, 2007 11:00 am - 12:30
pm
Event is free and open to the public
Presentation: Tongass National
Forest
by Lois Norrgard, Alaska Coalition
"What is the value of
wilderness?"
The mist-shrouded forests and clear-flowing streams of the
Tongass National
Forest in southeast Alaska make up the largest remaining
temperate
rainforest in the world and cover an island landscape marked by
narrow
inlets and glacier carved fiords. It is an incomparable wonder of
nature
owned by all Americans. The giant old growth trees, many over
thousands of
years old, are home to many rare and endangered species such as
bald eagles,
grizzly bears, wolves, sitka black-tailed deer, marbled
murrelet, goshawk,
and all five species of salmon.
But this ancient
rainforest is threatened by clear-cut logging - business as
usual for the
Forest Service. In 2005, according to Forest Service records,
we lost $48
million in taxpayer paid subsidies on road building,
irresponsibly damaging a
national treasure that attracts hunters, fishermen,
and tourists from around
the world, $1 billion since 1982. Currently, the
Tongass is the only forest
nationwide where commercial logging is allowed in
inventoried roadless
areas.
Come learn about the history, the place and its values, and the
ongoing
battle to fully protect this awe-inspiring forest - the crown jewel
of
America's national forest system. There are many opportunities to take
steps
to help protect this national treasure.
Lois Norrgard is the
Upper Midwest Regional Director for the Alaska
Coalition, and has been
working with Coalition members in Iowa, Minnesota,
and North and South
Dakota. The Alaska Coalition is a nationwide coalition
of over 1000
conservation, sporting, business, labor and religious groups
working together
to protect Alaska's wild public land from the tundra of the
Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge to the lush temperate rainforests that
stretch across the
massive Chugach and Tongass National Forests.
This
presentation is sponsored by the Central Iowa Sierra Group of
Sierra
Club. For information email [log in to unmask] or call
515-223-5047.