“The three biggest industries in the region are recreation, tourism, and fishing”
“all of which would take a hit if roadless forests are razed”
“My heart, home, and livelihood depends on the continued existence of this special conservation area”
The comment
The following statement was written by Tara Lohan for Magic Canoe (https://magiccanoe.org/the-roadless-rule-is-on-the-chopping-block-thats-horrible-for-wild-salmon/).
"More roadbuilding and logging can harm a plethora of forest animals, from songbirds to salamanders to grizzlies. But it also has impacts for aquatic animals, too, including salmon that rely on cool, clean streams. When roads are cut into steep forested hillsides and those trees removed, it can create unstable slopes that increase the risk of landslides, especially in areas with heavy rain, like the Pacific Northwest.
“Inventoried roadless areas are often very steep and high elevation. They’re places that are really vulnerable to soil erosion,” says James Fraser, Oregon policy director for Trout Unlimited.
...
Subsistence and commercial harvests depend on healthy forests, but rescinding the Roadless Rule puts that at risk. “Under this administration, there would likely be more full-scale logging projects that are targeting old-growth forests,” says Newcomer.
The draft environmental impact statement outlines that, with the Roadless Rule removed, about 749,000 acres would be suitable for timber production in the Tongass, including 395,000 acres of old-growth forests.
“Salmon are born in headwaters deep in these old-growth forests,” he says. “They go out in the ocean, live their lives, and they come back. They feed the bears, they feed the eagles, they feed the people, and then when they spawn and decompose, they feed the forest again. If you break that cycle anywhere, you’re causing this irreparable harm.”
That harm extends from salmon to the people who live in and visit Southeast Alaska. The three biggest industries in the region are recreation, tourism, and fishing—all of which would take a hit if roadless forests are razed. And Haida people, like the Organized Village of Kasaan, are not just salmon people; their culture is intertwined with old-growth trees that are used for totem poles and canoe-making.
“It’s a very unique place, and we want to preserve it, not just for tribal reasons, but for global reasons,” says Jones. “It matters to the planet that we have beautiful old-growth forests.” ...
The Forest Service is still sitting on billions in backlogged maintenance to its vast road network. The agency needs an estimated $1.6 billion a year to keep them in good working order, but Congress allocates less than 20 percent of that in most years and timber sales don’t make up the difference. But building more roads certainly won’t help fix the problem.
The draft environmental impact statement found that revenue generated by timber sales “would be used for some road-related system management but not be sufficient to cover the costs of constructing and maintaining all new roads related to a project.”
Research by Taxpayers for Common Sense also found deeper issues in the Tongass, where timber companies turn a profit even as logging has been a losing deal for taxpayers. Timber sales there since 1980 have cost the Forest Service $1.7 billion, or an average of about $44 million per year. The agency spends vastly more administering its timber sales—which includes selecting timber stands, doing thinning work when needed, advertising the sale and selected bids, and sometimes constructing or reconstructing roads—than the profits it recoups from the sales.
“The U.S. Forest Service could end up losing nearly $190 million in the Tongass over the next five years from planned sales, and more if currently roadless areas are opened to logging,” the nonpartisan group found."
Hi, my name is Kara Newman, and I was born and raised in Petersburg, Alaska. I am begging you to not only hail these words, but also my own: do NOT rescind the Roadless Rule. I do not support that. My heart, home, and livelihood depends on the continued existence of this special conservation area. I implore you to do the right thing and work towards conservation rather than irresponsible development that is profit-driven at the expense of the natural balance that we all depend on.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
- Kara Emiko Newman