From Environment New York’s Anna Aurilio:
“Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has finally heeded our call to protect our pristine national forests from imminent logging and roadbuilding.
Yesterday Vilsack issued a directive which requires his personal approval for any new logging, drilling, or roadbuilding in nearly 50 million acres of these treasured forests.
Of course, requiring the Secretary’s approval for destructive logging is no ironclad guarantee that he will never give it.
What does this victory mean for our forests? For example, Vilsack’s directive covers the 8.5 million acres of roadless areas in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest — the largest temperate rainforest in the world, which features cool, clear streams for spawning salmon and trout and is home to 300 types of birds. The Bush administration had stripped the Tongass of protection in 2005, and several timber projects have been nearing approval at the Forest Service. Now those chainsaws will never rip — unless Vilsack himself says so.
Sign our message to Secretary Vilsack today — saying thanks and asking him never to grant permission for destructive activities in our national forests:
Secretary Vilsack’s action marks the first key step toward President Obama’s pledge to restore permanent protection to all roadless areas in our national forests.
And that’s another reason to email Vilsack today — to make sure his temporary protection becomes permanent.”
