3/19/08

THE FUTURE OF OUR ROADLESS FORESTS IS IN YOUR HANDS

One-third of America’s national forests are protected from road-building and other industrial development by the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

But now the Bush administration is working state-by-state to open these treasured places to logging, mining and other development.

Without your help, their future is at risk.

As it gets ready to head out the door, the Bush administration seems intent on handing the keys to our national forests over to the timber and mining industries.

Currently at stake:

• Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, where the administration has proposed to increase logging in the world’s largest remaining temperate rainforest;

• Idaho’s Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, where the administration has announced plans to open the largest swath of wild forest in the Lower 48 states to logging and mining;

• Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, where the administration plans to open to development a majestic landscape with trout streams, rock-ribbed trails and diverse wildlife that make it a premier destination for outdoor recreation.

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule currently protects these special places from logging, road-building, and other industrial development. The Bush administration has attempted repeatedly to undo this popular policy – with little success – because Americans, like you, stood tall and took action.
Our national forests should be our gift to future generations not a giveaway to corporate special interests.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Send an email to the Forest Service telling it to enforce the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

Please go to: http://www.roadless.org/action/Future/FF
to send the your comments now!