Today the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) released a draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Prince of Wales Landscape Level Analysis project, proposing massive new old-growth clearcutting on the largest island in our nation’s largest forest. In 2016, the USFS committed to a transition out of old-growth logging and away from uneconomical and destructive timber sales like this proposal.
Defenders of Wildlife Senior Alaska Representative, Pat Lavin, issued the following statement:
"The U.S. Forest Service committed to transition away from logging old-growth on the Tongass in 2016 because the agency correctly concluded that there is no future in clearcutting these magnificent forests. Clearing old-growth forests on Prince of Wales is a return to the past – the island has already suffered some of the most intensive industrial-scale clear-cut logging on the Tongass. More taxpayer-subsidized logging won’t create many jobs but will threaten wildlife such as the Alexander Archipelago wolf, Sitka black-tailed deer, northern flying squirrel and many other old-growth dependent species.
"It's time to bring a real transition to southeast Alaska – one that restores wildlife habitat and watersheds and supports the new sustainable economy of fishing and tourism, not unsustainable old-growth logging."
For nearly 80 years, Defenders of Wildlife has worked to protect and restore America’s wildlife at risk of extinction, advancing a vision of a future in which wildlife thrives, sustained by broad public support and a resilient network of healthy lands and waters. With a network of more than 2 million supporters, Defenders is an advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard wildlife for generations to come. To learn more, please visit https://defenders.org/newsroom or follow us on Instagram @defendersofwildlife.
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