Earth Day call to action.

Earth Day greetings from Protect Ancient Forests.

We write to (1) inform you of a major threat facing our life-sustaining National Forests and (2) provide you with a sense of hopefulness that we will prevail in safeguarding these irreplaceable federal public lands if we draw the public’s attention to the immense benefits of forests.

The White House has set into motion a plan to dramatically increase logging in National Forests — putting majestic mature and old-growth forests at risk by attempting to sidestep bedrock environmental laws, including the Endangered Species Act.

Earlier this month, the new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture took a major step towards implementation of this plan by issuing a Secretarial Memo that establishes a scientifically-indefensible “Emergency Situation Determination” on 112,646,000 acres of public land — threatening a staggering 60% of America’s beloved National Forests, without proper scientific review.

We cannot let our nation’s last remaining ancient forests become a quiet casualty of the ‘flood the zone’ strategy.  To that end, we have updated our website to identify the most important elected officials to contact right now (based on where you live).

While forests remain under siege out West, the “emergency” declaration also threatens the White and Green Mountain National Forests (of New England), the Allegheny National Forest (of Pennsylvania), the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests (of North Carolina) and just about everywhere in between…

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We also want to acknowledge that the global environmental movement lost a towering tree yesterday in Pope Francis.  For his final homily on Sunday, the Pope wrote about the importance of “adding to the beauty of life through the small acts of love carried out by each of us.”

When it comes to protecting forest ecosystems and the wondrous webs of biodiversity contained therein — and thereby safeguarding a healthy planet for the benefit of future generations — the only way we will succeed is through small acts of love carried out by each of us.

Please make time on this Earth Day for a small act — whether its pausing to take a breath of fresh air beside a favorite tree, sending a note on behalf of forests to an elected official, or making a donation to support our work of building coalitions, raising awareness about the value of wild places, and finding creative ways to forever protect the wonders that sustain us all.

With resolve,

Michael & Alyssa

Protect Ancient Forests, Co-Founders