Guest Post by Ryan Tollefsen “This Land Is Your Land,” Woody Guthrie's now famous ode to the freedom and beauty of America, begins with the statement that “this land is your land, this land is my land.” Guthrie's vision was rooted in the freedom of movement in the country's natural splendor. In hindsight, it was a great call to action to both appreciate and keep America's public lands safe and open to all to enjoy. As the country has evolved and developed, large areas of stunning, open, public land has become more scarce. This should serve to remind citizens of the importance of national parks and public land space for conservation and overall wellbeing. One such example of how public lands can greatly benefit a community, a state, and the nation as a whole is the Tongass National Forest. Located in Southeast Alaska, the Tongass is the largest national forest in the United States with more than 17 million acres of land, part of the largest temperate rainforest in the world. Home to a diverse range of species and rare flora and fauna, the Tongass spans part of the islands of the Alexander Archipelago and the fjords, glaciers, and peaks of the Coast Mountains and includes wetlands, snow, rock, ice, non-forest vegetation, and forests in 19 designated wilderness areas. Protected creatures, which are rarely found in other parts of North America, roam the islands of Tongass along the coast. Salmon, brown and black bears, and bald eagles are all key inhabitants of the forest along with wolves, mountain goats, black-tailed deer, and migratory birds. Orca and humpback whales, sea lions, seals, sea otters, and porpoises populate the marine waters in the area. As far as human life goes, more than 75,000 people rely upon the land of the Tongass National Forest. It is also home to Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples and 31 different communities, the largest of which is Alaska's capital, Juneau The Tongass National Forest is well positioned as a part of Alaska's natural and national heritage, setting the state apart from others with its natural beauty and dedication to preserving public space. It's part of the state's commitment to nature, with more than half of Alaska's square miles are allocated to the public trust. These areas belong to all citizens with the responsibility of maintaining and conserving their ecosystems provided for by the public trust. Once these lands are lost or sold, there is no longer an obligation to manage them in a way that benefits multiple uses for all citizens. The Tongass National Forest is a treasured asset to the people of Alaska and Americans in general looking to get away in Alaska's natural beauty. Its public lands support commercial, sporting, fishing, tourism, recreation, manufacturing, adventuring and guiding industries that provide thousands of jobs to residents that contribute billions of dollars to the economy. Perhaps just as importantly, they bring an appreciation of the great outdoors and the joy of activity to others through hunting, fishing, foraging, kayaking, hiking, skiing, trekking, and other adventure activities. Naturally, keeping the Tongass safe and in the hands of the public trust ensures that all its benefits can be reaped by the public. Transferring public lands into private hands damages the resource based economy and cultural heritage of Southeast Alaska. Losing this asset would harm the communities and people who rely on access to its natural resources while also eliminating access to the greater tourism industry. Consequently, transferring management of public lands such as Tongass to private entities hurts their fish and game populations by terminating crucial federal conservation measures and standards. For the beauty, abundance, prosperity, and enjoyment of America's public lands, citizens should strive to uphold their status as lands & “made for you and me.” Contact: Austin Williams, Trout Unlimited, (907) 227-1590
PRESS KIT AVAILABLE: including b-roll footage, photos and interview footage about the Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan at this link. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Important salmon-producing areas threatened in proposed rollback of Tongass National Forest Plan Amendment New measure by Sen. Murkowski (R-Alaska) would undo public process for conservation measures within country’s largest National Forest JUNEAU, AK – Today, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) included a rider on the Senate Interior and Environment appropriations bill to roll back the Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan (TLMP) and repeal important measures for conserving more than 70 salmon and trout streams within Southeast Alaska’s 17 million acre Tongass National Forest. “The Tongass plan amendment is the product of several years of collaboration by Alaskans from across the political spectrum that were able to overcome their differences and form a shared vision for the Tongass based on tourism, fishing and sustainable young-growth forest products,” said Austin Williams, Alaska Legal and Policy Director for Trout Unlimited. “It is disheartening that Senator Murkowski is turning her back to the thousands of Alaskans that support the Tongass plan amendment and threatening to return the region to the conflict and divisiveness of the past. The Tongass plan amendment was created by Alaskans that decided to work together and cooperate so that all could benefit, and should not be cast aside through a closed-door process in Congress.” The Tongass plan amendment is the culmination of a multi-year, community-supported process in which more than 7,200 Alaskans voiced support for protecting high-value fish and wildlife habitat. It is based on the unanimously-adopted recommendations of the Tongass Advisory Committee (TAC), which was comprised of representatives from the logging industry, the State of Alaska, Alaska Native tribes and corporations, municipal leaders, and conservation organizations convened to move the Tongass National Forest away from the conflict around old-growth logging and work toward sustainable harvest of young-growth timber. “The Tongass plan amendment is central to ensuring the region’s important fishing and tourism industries continue to thrive and grow into the future,” said Mark Kaelke, Southeast Alaska Program Manager for Trout Unlimited. “We commend the Forest Service for developing a plan amendment that balances the diverse interests at play in the region, and encourage Senator Murkowski to respect the public process, years of dialogue, and compromise that went into this plan by allowing it to remain in effect.” This bill has not gone through a committee mark up. It will likely be included in the debate over the delayed Congressional decision on how to fund the federal government through the end of the current fiscal year 2018. Trout Unlimited and our salmon conservation allies will be working hard to ensure that it does not become law, along with several other harmful riders that were included in the bill. The Tongass is the nation’s largest National Forest, producing hundreds of millions of wild salmon each year that support thriving commercial and sport fishing industries. Salmon fishing accounts for 10% of all regional employment and contributes $1 billion annually to the local economy. Visitors from all over the world come to see the Tongass and support a booming travel industry accounting for another 15% of regional employment and another $1 billion in economic activity. ### Trout Unlimited is the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization. In Alaska, we work with sportsmen and women to ensure the state’s trout and salmon resources remain healthy far into the future through our local chapters and offices in Anchorage and Juneau. Follow TU’s Tongass efforts on Facebook, and visit us online at tu.org. Learn more about our work to conserve key areas of the Tongass National Forest at www.americansalmonforest.org
June 7, 2017
Contact: Mark Kaelke, Trout Unlimited, mkaelke@tu.org, 907-321-4464 Alaskans who hunt and fish celebrate public lands in the Tongass National Forest Thousands sign onto letter requesting public lands remain in the public trust JUNEAU, AK – Today, thousands of business owners, guides, outfitters, hunters and anglers who support conserving and maintaining access to public lands released a letter urging Alaska’s congressional representatives and the Trump Administration to keep public lands in the public trust while celebrating the many uses of the Tongass National Forest. The letter states: “As individuals that depend on access to abundant natural resources, we believe the Tongass National Forest must continue to be managed by the U.S. Forest Service on a multiple-use basis. We stand together in opposition to any effort to transfer management or ownership of Federal public lands in Southeast Alaska to State or private entities [and] any proposals that threaten to unreasonably restrict public access or would harm fish and game populations by eliminating essential federal conservation designations and measures, such as the Tongass 77.” At its core, the letter expresses concern that transferring public lands into private hands will harm the resource-based economy and culture of Southeast Alaska. However, many signers participated as a celebration of their support for the numerous uses and benefits of the Tongass National Forest. “The Tongass is open to all of us to use and enjoy. Visitors have once-in-a-lifetime experiences here, locals fill their freezers with game and fish from the Tongass, and business owners rely on the land and water for their livelihoods,” said Dan Blanchard, Captain and CEO of Uncruise Adventures. “We’re not only opposed to privatization of the public places we love, we’re also signing in celebration of all the Tongass gives us. We want the Tongass to be around forever.” The letter highlights that public lands drive the private-sector economy of Southeast Alaska, by creating more than $2 billion in economic contribution and 25% of all jobs in the region annually. ### Trout Unlimited is the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization. In Alaska, we work with sportsmen and women to ensure the state’s trout and salmon resources remain healthy through our local chapters and offices in Anchorage and Juneau. Follow TU on Facebook or visit us online at tu.org and americansalmonforest.org. Anyone who understands the value of public lands to hunters, anglers and other outdoor recreationists, and the fundamental role public lands play in many of our lives has cause for concern. Today we're writing to highlight just one of the threats to our public lands. Introducing the State National Forest Management Act of 2017 (H.R. 232): This ill-conceived proposal would allow individual states to receive up to 2 million acres of federal land. In Alaska, this means that 2 million acres of the most productive and important areas of the Tongass would transfer to the State of Alaska for intense timber and mining development. With this change in ownership, fish and wildlife would take a backseat so the state could exploit the land free from important federal fish and wildlife protections or sell it off to private owners. The conservation measures and protections we have worked on together for fish and wildlife habitat—such as the requirement for 100-foot stream buffers, environmental review and public notice—would no longer apply, and future public access would not be guaranteed. The lands open for transfer under the proposal could come from congressionally-designated wild lands, Roadless Areas, or nearly any other area outside of Wilderness, National Monuments, or National Park System lands. As if this weren't egregious enough, under the bill there would be no opportunity for comprehensive environmental review, and the public would NOT be allowed to participate or have a say in the selection and transfer process. To address this and other such attacks, we are collecting signatures from anyone who values conservation of, and continued access to, our valuable public lands in the Tongass National Forest. We delivered the first batch of signatures to our Alaska Senators and Congressman in February, and will continue to do so throughout the spring and summer. If you'd like to review our list or add your name, you may do so here. If you think HR 232 sounds like a very, very bad idea please click here to add your name to our sign-on letter: Among the areas targeted for transfer are some of the most productive and important salmon and steelhead streams in Southeast Alaska—including the Situk River and large chunks of Prince of Wales Island. These areas would be handed over to the state to be logged or further sold off to private interests with no guarantee for future public access or important federal protections for fish and wildlife. (See map below) Please add your name to our Public Lands Sign-On Letter in support of conserving our public lands and the fish and wildlife resources they support. Efforts underway in Congress to transfer or privatize our federal public lands are an all-out attack on our fish and wildlife heritage and hit especially hard on our nation's largest and greatest national forest, the Tongass. Southeast Alaska's Tongass National Forest is one of the last remaining temperate rainforests in the world where ancient Sitka spruce and cedar forests are home to abundant runs of all five species of North American Pacific salmon, steelhead, cutthroat trout, Dolly Varden, and wildlife like grizzly and black bears, Sitka black-tailed deer, wolves, and bald eagles - just to name a few! If passed, this bill would carve off large swaths of the Tongass for special interests, block off public access and promote destructive and unsustainable logging that will cause untold harm to the region's important fish and wildlife resources. Fishing and tourism, which are Southeast Alaska's largest sources of private-sector employment and account for roughly 25% of regional employment, would be cast aside in favor of outdated logging practices that provide minimal employment while costing taxpayers many millions of dollars annually. Today, more than ever, is the time to speak up and make sure your elected officials hear your voice.
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