1. United States
2. Idaho
3. Letter

The Trump administration's plan to exempt the Tongass National Forest from roadless protections, allowing new logging, energy and mining projects, raises serious concerns. Opening more than 9 million acres of this pristine wilderness area to development threatens critical habitat for wildlife like brown bears, salmon, and the northern goshawk. It also jeopardizes the region's thriving commercial fishing and tourism industries which rely on the forest's intact ecosystems. The Tongass contains some of the world's last remaining temperate rainforests and represents an irreplaceable natural treasure. We urge you to uphold longstanding protections for roadless areas and reject this effort to undermine sensible environmental safeguards on public lands. Maintaining the Tongass as a protected reserve preserves its immense ecological value while still allowing reasonable access for projects as needed through established review processes. Reversing course now to enable destructive resource extraction would needlessly sacrifice this stunning landscape and its economic importance to short-term private interests. The public interest lies in conserving America's natural heritage like the Tongass for present and future generations.