Seeds of Change Action Item: Help Save the Tongass National Forest
Hello Friends!
In our first Seeds of Change class, we talked about what North America looked like in the thousands of years before European colonizers came across the Atlantic ocean. There’s a lot to unpack in the history of what Native American life was like in pre-Columbian times, what happened when Europeans came over, and how US policy has affected Native Americans, starting before the US was officially a country and continuing today. We’ll talk about all of this in future Seeds of Change classes, and each week we’ll post an extension activity here- a recommended action item we can all do to help in some way. This week’s action item is to join with nine Native American tribes in Alaska to ask the US Forest Service to save an old growth rainforest.
By following the Lakota People’s Law Project on Facebook, I learned about the Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. The US Forest Service is expected to announce their decision about whether they’ll remove the Roadless Rule to allow for logging in the Tongass National Forest soon. The Trump Administration is requesting this change and most of Alaska’s political representatives are in favor of it as well. But there are huge consequences if the Roadless Rule is overturned and nine tribes have come together to petition the government to ask that it remain in place. A decision is due very soon (the US Forest Service’s website says ‘late summer’), so our action this week is as follows:
Google pictures of the Tongass National Forest with your kid(s). If they are inspired to help, they could draw an illustration of the old growth forest (the U.S.’s largest), or of the people or wildlife who call it home.
While your kid is illustrating their picture, write a letter to the US Forest Service. Rebecca has compiled a draft based on a number of resources online (linked below) that you can copy and print if you’d like.
Take a picture of your kid(s) finished artwork and post it to social media and share what is at stake if the US Forest Service overturns the Roadless Rule.
Mail the picture and your letter to the US Forest Service (bonus points here because you’ll be helping to support the USPS!).
Here is a draft letter you can copy! Thanks to Rebecca for putting this together!
Date
US Forest Service
201 14th St., SW
Washington, D.C. 20250
I am writing to express my opposition to the U.S. Forest Service's proposal to open 9.2 million roadless acres of the Tongass National Forest to development. I oppose for the following reasons.
1. The Tongass is culturally essential to the Tlingit and Haida people, who have lived in southeast Alaska for thousands of years. Because the Tongass Forest accounts for 80% of the land in this region, the U.S. Federal Government has a responsibility to the people to consult them in their proposal to open the Tongass Forest to development. They have not done so. Tribal governments have issued a joint statement condemning the roadless exemption. They include the Angoon Cooperative Association, Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Hoonah Indian Association, Hydaburg Cooperative Association, and the Villages of Kake and Kasaan, Klawock Cooperative Association, Ketchikan Indian Community, Skagway Traditional Council, and the Organized Village of Saxman. The forest is critical to indigenous economies in southeastern Alaska. Tribal members hunt for deer and moose, fish for salmon, gather mushrooms, berries and medicinal plants, and use the massive trees to carve canoes and totem poles. Opening the roadless acres would not only be devastating for the land, but for the people and for the survival of their culture.
2. The Tongass is part of the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, stretching from Alaska to northern California in a narrow band along the North Pacific coast. Old-growth forests within this unique ecosystem type are globally endangered by logging and other development, as well as by climate change.
3. Old-growth temperate rainforests store large amounts of carbon, with the Tongass accounting for 8% of all carbon stored in the U.S. National Forests. Increased disturbance through logging, road building, and other development activities will affect carbon sequestration and flux through this ecosystem, with impacts to global carbon budgets.
4. Coastal watersheds within the Tongass export large amounts of fresh water and nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, iron, and phosphorus to the North Pacific Ocean, fueling productive marine food webs and globally important fisheries. Increased disturbance to these watersheds will impact this nutrient exchange from the land to the sea.
5. The Tongass provides freshwater spawning and rearing habitats that support large wild salmon populations. Increased road building, culvert installation, and logging will negatively affect these habitats, changing hydrology, water temperature, nutrient export, aquatic food webs, and silt loads. Wild salmon populations will decline with increased development in the Tongass, affecting fisheries and fishery-dependent industries.
6. Increased access through road building within the Tongass will lead to habitat fragmentation for many species, and increased hunting and trapping pressure for many game animals may drive local populations to extinction. This is especially troublesome given the presence of unique lineages of birds and mammals on many of the islands within the Forest, some with small and isolated populations.
7. Tourism in Southeast Alaska is on the rise, with up to 1.4 million visitors expected in 2020. Tourists, many of whom arrive on cruise ships, come to Alaska to experience pristine wilderness, see wildlife, and enjoy fresh seafood. Further development in the Tongass that negatively impacts these values will have deleterious effects on this growing industry.
8. Lastly, under current law, exemptions to the Roadless Rule can be made for individual development projects, like rare earth mineral mines. Thoughtful development, made in consultation with local communities, stakeholders, and citizens, can and should continue in the Tongass. Exempting the Tongass from the Roadless Rule is not necessary.
In light of all these points, I request that the Forest Service seriously consider both the best available science and the opinions of the people that actually live in Southeast Alaska and call it their home. Please do not continue to rush the finalization of this Roadless Plan without first addressing the important scientific needs of our diverse ecosystems on our National Forests and the peoples that depend on them.
Sincerely,
Here are some articles where you can learn more, plus a petition you can sign:
NRDC Petition: Save America’s Largest Wild Forest!
Petition from Nine Alaskan Indian Tribes
Alaska Tribes Petition to Preserve Tongass National Forest Roadless Protections
Take Action Now: Roadless Rule Exemption
Public Rebuts Alaska Rainforest Logging, Roadless Exemption Plan
And if you’re looking for more resources to help educate yourself about Native American history and current issues, here are some that have been so helpful to me. I’ve been reading An Indigenous People’s History of the United States and Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. I’ve been listening to the This Land podcast. I’m following the Lakota People’s Law Project and Native Organizers Alliance on Facebook and lots of Indigenous folks on Instagram. If you’re reading or listening to any of these things or if you have other resources, I’d love to hear from you. Thanks for taking part in this week’s class and action item!
