The Future of Our Forests is In Your Hands

One-third of America’s national forests are protected from road-building and other industrial development by the 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 they get 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.

• Sierra Nevada, where the administration has amended the 2001 Sierra Nevada Framework to allow logging of larger trees in Old Forest Emphasis Areas and has advocated salvage logging in proposed wilderness areas.

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.

Please use the form below to send the your comments now!

For More Information, Click Here to Download:
Wild at Heart: Saving the Last of America's Roadless Backcountry

Save Our Last Wild Forests
Because once they're gone... they're gone forever.

Fill out the form and click the button below. A compiled letter with your individual comment will be presented to the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service.

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Below is a sample letter.
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To the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service: Please accept these comments on proposed changes to the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Spanning 58.5 million acres in 38 states, America's national forest roadless areas contain some of our nation's last pristine forests. From the expansive wilds of the American Southwest and Northern Rockies to the colorful deciduous woods of New England and the Appalachians, these last tracts of unspoiled backcountry provide habitat for wildlife, headwaters to rivers, and unparalleled recreational opportunities for millions of Americans. In 2001, the U.S. Forest Service issued the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects all of the country's roadless areas in National Forests from most logging and new roads being built for mining, coal, gas, logging and other development. The rule was the result of almost three years of deliberation that included 600 public hearings National Forests and more than 1.5 million written comments the overwhelming majority of which supported complete protection of all remaining roadless areas . The American public has continued to support this policy, and has repeatedly opposed proposals to reverse or weaken it. I write once again to ask that you let this policy remain in place, in Idaho, in Alaska, in Colorado, and throughout the nation. Please, keep the Roadless Rule, and our nation's roadless areas, intact. The Future of Our Forests is in Your Hands. Sincerely yours,