Sign On: Urge the Forest Service to Cancel the Kuiu Island Timber Sale
The following will be delivered to Forest Service Supervisor, Earl Stewart, and Regional Forester, Beth Pendleton, with your signature added. Please use the form below the letter to add your name.
August 30, 2016
Dear Forest Supervisor Earl Stewart and Regional Forester Beth Pendleton,
We, the undersigned businesses, organizations and individuals, are writing you to express our deep concern over the North Kuiu timber sale and to encourage you to withdraw the sale. This project would clearcut more than 800 acres of old-growth timber from some of the most important fish and wildlife habitat on Kuiu Island, an area already hit hard by past logging and road building. This sale would degrade some of the best fish and wildlife habitat in the region at the expense of outfitters and guides, hunters, anglers, subsistence users, and recreationists.
1. The Sale will have Unacceptable Impacts to Fish and Wildlife and Local Users. This sale will have huge consequences for Kadake Creek (VCU 4210) and Security Bay (VCU 4000), which are two of the top salmon-producing watersheds in the region and highly productive areas for black bears and Sitka black-tailed deer. These areas support growing fishing and tourism companies that serve as the backbone of the regional economy. As recognized by the Tongass Advisory Committee (TAC) and the many thousands of Alaskans that spoke out in favor of stronger protections for the Tongass 77 during the several plan amendment comment periods, these areas should be off limits to new old-growth logging and managed so fish and wildlife come first.
2. The Sale is based on Out-Dated and Incomplete Environmental Analysis. The North Kuiu Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) was completed in 2007 and the Record of Decision (ROD) was signed in 2008. Neither of these documents, nor the recent Supplemental Information Report, adequately consider changes to the nearby land base from the recent Sealaska Lands Bill or changes to state lands at Rowen Bay and No Name Bay, the economic ramifications of adopting a 100% export policy, the changing social and economic values in the region that recognize the importance of increased protections for the Tongass 77, the cumulative effects to watershed health, or the conflict between this timber sale and the proposed forest plan amendment. These significant oversights, along with the staleness of the FEIS and ROD, demand the Forest Service prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.
3. The Sale has no Economic Justification. By adopting a 100% export policy for this sale, the Forest Service virtually guarantees the sale will support no milling and manufacturing jobs and decreases by nearly half the total number of timber-related jobs supported by the sale. Additionally, because this sale will cost taxpayers more than it will return in timber receipts, we are subsidizing a sale that threatens important fish and wildlife habitat supporting the region’s vibrant fishing and tourism economies. Fishing and tourism account for nearly 25% of private-sector employment in the region and should not be traded away for this poorly-conceived timber sale.
For the above reasons, we ask you to cancel the North Kuiu timber sale and move as quickly as possible to finalize the forest plan amendment and implement its proposed protections for all of the Tongass 77 watersheds and other important conservation areas.
Dear Forest Supervisor Earl Stewart and Regional Forester Beth Pendleton,
We, the undersigned businesses, organizations and individuals, are writing you to express our deep concern over the North Kuiu timber sale and to encourage you to withdraw the sale. This project would clearcut more than 800 acres of old-growth timber from some of the most important fish and wildlife habitat on Kuiu Island, an area already hit hard by past logging and road building. This sale would degrade some of the best fish and wildlife habitat in the region at the expense of outfitters and guides, hunters, anglers, subsistence users, and recreationists.
1. The Sale will have Unacceptable Impacts to Fish and Wildlife and Local Users. This sale will have huge consequences for Kadake Creek (VCU 4210) and Security Bay (VCU 4000), which are two of the top salmon-producing watersheds in the region and highly productive areas for black bears and Sitka black-tailed deer. These areas support growing fishing and tourism companies that serve as the backbone of the regional economy. As recognized by the Tongass Advisory Committee (TAC) and the many thousands of Alaskans that spoke out in favor of stronger protections for the Tongass 77 during the several plan amendment comment periods, these areas should be off limits to new old-growth logging and managed so fish and wildlife come first.
2. The Sale is based on Out-Dated and Incomplete Environmental Analysis. The North Kuiu Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) was completed in 2007 and the Record of Decision (ROD) was signed in 2008. Neither of these documents, nor the recent Supplemental Information Report, adequately consider changes to the nearby land base from the recent Sealaska Lands Bill or changes to state lands at Rowen Bay and No Name Bay, the economic ramifications of adopting a 100% export policy, the changing social and economic values in the region that recognize the importance of increased protections for the Tongass 77, the cumulative effects to watershed health, or the conflict between this timber sale and the proposed forest plan amendment. These significant oversights, along with the staleness of the FEIS and ROD, demand the Forest Service prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.
3. The Sale has no Economic Justification. By adopting a 100% export policy for this sale, the Forest Service virtually guarantees the sale will support no milling and manufacturing jobs and decreases by nearly half the total number of timber-related jobs supported by the sale. Additionally, because this sale will cost taxpayers more than it will return in timber receipts, we are subsidizing a sale that threatens important fish and wildlife habitat supporting the region’s vibrant fishing and tourism economies. Fishing and tourism account for nearly 25% of private-sector employment in the region and should not be traded away for this poorly-conceived timber sale.
For the above reasons, we ask you to cancel the North Kuiu timber sale and move as quickly as possible to finalize the forest plan amendment and implement its proposed protections for all of the Tongass 77 watersheds and other important conservation areas.
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Add your name and/or business name by filling in the information requested at right. We will deliver the letter with all signer names listed.
Thank you! |
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