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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the Forest Service, is trying to take away crucial environmental protections for 45 million acres of public forests. Last year, the agency proposed the elimination of the bipartisan 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. If the Roadless Rule is ended, it would open up our forests to for-profit corporations involved in logging and road construction for development. Many Tribes, advocacy organizations, and everyday people spoke out, submitting more than 625,000 comments -- the vast majority expressing strong opposition to the destruction of Native homelands and national forests, which has happened without any Tribal consultation -- in violation of the law and of Tribal sovereignty. Now, the Forest Service has released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), the final step in rescinding the Roadless Rule. And it has opened an official comment period in which the USDA must accept public feedback. This is our last chance to stop the Trump administration from rescinding the Roadless Rule, which would open up 45 million acres of Tribal land and national forests to corporate exploitation. Repealing the Roadless Rule would also threaten sacred Indigenous places, increase the risk of wildfires, threaten 60 million people’s drinking water, worsen climate change, and endanger salmon and other wildlife. As the President of the Organized Village of Kasaan in Alaska wrote: “It would be a grave mistake to roll back these protections.” We have less than one month to rally the vast majority of people who are worried about climate change to submit public comments demonstrating widespread opposition before the Forest Service’s comment period ends on September 21st. The USDA / Forest Service’s attempt to rescind the Roadless Rule threatens many sacred places around Turtle Island, including the Tongass National Forest. “We the people of Kichxáan are the Tongass,” said Gloria Burns, President of the Ketchikan Indian Community in Alaska. “You cannot separate us from the land… This is an attack on Tribes and our people who depend on the land to eat. The federal government must act and provide us the safeguards we need or leave our home roadless. Without our lungs (the Tongass) we cannot breathe life into our future generations.” At 9.2 million acres, the Tongass is the world’s largest temperate rainforest and one of the largest carbon sinks in the United States. It traps and stores massive amounts of carbon dioxide, preventing the gas from entering the atmosphere, where it causes climate change. If the U.S. government hands it over to logging companies, they’d cut down these trees and accelerate climate disasters for profit. The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska responded to the USDA’s announcement with a statement saying: “The Tongass is more than an ecosystem -- it is our home. It is the foundation of our identity, our culture, and our way of life.” They explained that the USDA took this action “without any prior consultation with our Tribe or other Southeast Alaska tribes” and called on the USDA to “suspend this decision until meaningful consultation is held with tribal nations, as required under federal law and trust obligations.” Let’s lift up their voices before it’s too late. Hawwih (thank you) for defending Tribal sovereignty and Mother Earth. Together we will keep demanding that the U.S. government protect national forests and fulfill its obligations to Tribal Nations. Judith LeBlanc (Caddo) |
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