The Tongass Rainforest in Southeast Alaska is the last great expanse of temperate old growth forest left in the United States, and it has been partially protected since the “Roadless Rule” halted most logging there in 2001.
Now, the “biggest threat to the west coast rainforest this century” is here: Bill S.2554, which would permanently privatize 115,200 acres, including 80,000 acres of old-growth rainforest, into the hands of privately owned logging corporations — all behind a veil of “justice” for indigenous people. All this is happening at the same time that the roadless rule itself is under threat.
This conversation with Tlingit elder and forest defender Wanda Culp and filmmaker and activist Joshua Wright — who helped launch the Fairy Creek blockade — dives into “indigi-washing,” one of the divide and conquer strategies being used defeat public opposition to the destruction of the land.
Wanda and Joshua have requested your help:
TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION:
Please contact the Natural Resources Committee TODAY to oppose S.2554 and urge them to protect our public lands instead of handing them over for private exploitation! If you are reading this after February 12, please email the Senate regardless, please also reach out to your local congressional representative to tell them that you oppose the bill.
Sample letter: https://tinyurl.com/protectTNF
fortherecord@energy.senate.gov
202-224-3121
Links and Resources
Background on ANCSA, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (1971)
Note: This is a cross-post from the organization that I work for, the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. We are organizers, lawyers, and revolutionaries who educate and agitate to confront systemic injustice and restore humanity’s relationship with the Earth. For more than 30 years, we’ve helped communities resist corporate power, reject regulatory false promises, and assert their right to self-governance grounded in ecological balance.
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