Action Alerts

Ancient trees are on the chopping block

What's At Stake

Our nation’s ancient forests are facing a new threat, and the window to speak out is closing.

The U.S. Forest Service has released a draft decision for the Twin Mountain II timber sale within the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. This massive logging project would open 1,783 acres of mostly old-growth trees within the forest to commercial timber harvest over the next 15 years; that’s about 1,350 football fields. This is more than twice the size of New York’s Central Park.

We have an opportunity to voice our opposition before this destructive project moves forward.

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The Tongass is home to trees that have stood for centuries. On northern Prince of Wales Island, in the heart of the Tongass, over 75% of the contiguous old-growth forest has already been logged. Now, the Twin Mountain II project would authorize commercial logging across 1,738 additional acres. These forests store carbon, provide wildlife habitat, and protect salmon streams that sustain Southeast Alaska communities. For Alaska Native communities, the Tongass is also deeply connected to traditional ways of life, including fishing, hunting, and gathering food. Once these ancient forests are cut down, they cannot simply be replaced.

Twin Mountain II is part of a broader push to increase logging across our national forests. The Trump administration is also seeking to rescind the Roadless Rule and loosen travel-management regulations to favor more roadbuilding and motor vehicle use. Meanwhile, the Forest Service is in the process of revising the management plan for the Tongass and may increase timber targets under the new plan.

But the public has overwhelmingly rejected this agenda: more than a million people submitted comments on the proposed Roadless Rule repeal, nearly all opposing it. The decisions being made today could shape the future of these forests for generations. That’s why Earthjustice is fighting these attacks and working to keep the last of the Tongass’s ancient forests standing — but we need your help.

Please take action today to help keep these ancient forests standing.

Alaska Prince of Wales island aerial view from floatplane. (Andrea Izzotti / Getty Images)
Alaska Prince of Wales island aerial view from floatplane. (Andrea Izzotti / Getty Images)

20 Days Remain

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Your Actions Matter

Your messages make a difference, even if we have leaders who don't want to listen. Here's why.

You level the playing field.

Elected officials pay attention when they see that we are paying attention. Read more.

They may be hearing from industry lobbyists left and right, but hearing the stories of their constituents — that’s your power.

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Make sure your elected officials know whose community and whose values they represent. When you contact your elected official, you’re putting a face and a name on an issue.

Whether or not you voted for them, they work for you, for the duration of their term.

Make sure your elected officials know whose community and whose values they represent. (Find your local, state, and federal elected officials.)

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If a federal agency finalizes a harmful action, the record of public comments provides a basis for bringing them into court. Read more.

Throughout each of the public comment periods we alert you to, Earthjustice’s attorneys are researching and writing in-depth, technical comments to submit — detailing how the regulation could and should be stronger to protect the environment, our communities, and our planet.

We need you to join us — your specific experiences, knowledge, and voice are crucial to add to the Administrative Record through the comment periods.

Lawsuits we file that challenge weak or harmful federal regulations rely on what was submitted during the comment period. The court can only look at documents that are in the Administrative Record — including the public comments — to decide if the agency did something improper.

Your actions aid our litigation. Taking action and submitting comments during a comment period is substantively important.

It’s the law.

Federal agencies must pause what they’re doing and ask for — and consider — your comment. Read more.

Many of us may have never heard of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), but laws like these require our government to ask the public to weigh in before agencies adopt or change regulations.

Regulations essentially describe how federal agencies will carry out laws — including decisions that could undermine science, or weaken safeguards on public health.

Public comments are collected at various points throughout the federal government’s rulemaking process, including when a regulation is proposed and finalized. (Learn about the rulemaking process.) These comments become part of the official, legal public record — the “Administrative Record.”

When the public responds with a huge outpouring of support for environmental protections, these individual messages collectively undercut politicians' attempts to claim otherwise.

What this means is each of us can take a role in shaping the rules our government creates — and ensuring those rules are fair and effective.