Last October, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund applauded the President for his bold vision when he announced the development of a policy to protect the remaining wild forests in our National Forest System. To achieve that vision a final policy should immediately protect all National Forest roadless areas from all logging and must include Alaska’s Tongass Rainforest.

The preferred alternative put forth by the Forest Service in the Draft Environmental Impact (DEIS) released today falls short of the mark. However, the pieces necessary to realize the President’s vision can be found scattered among the other alternatives proposed by the agency.

The American people strongly support a policy that provides immediate and lasting protection for roadless areas in all our national forests, including the Tongass. They shall again make their will known through the unprecedented public comment that will follow today’s announcement. We call on the administration to adopt a final policy that adheres to the President’s vision and the will of the American people – by ending roadless area logging and placing the Tongass Rainforest first, not last.

BACKGROUND: Does an end to roadbuilding end logging of our National Forests? See http://users.erols.com/pburns/logg.htm