Giving Away Alaska's Rainforest

Senator Murkowski and Representative Don Young have spent their entire political careers trying to prop up Southeast Alaska's  timber industry through government handouts and subsidies.  

In the past several years both Murkowski and Young introduced legislation that would effectively transfer 2-million acres of Tongass National Forest - the last of the best - to the state of Alaska. 

Under Alaska law these lands would be managed solely for timber production. This means:

• No management for multi-use (hunting, recreation, etc)

• No opportunity for meaningful public process

• No limits on the size of clearcuts

• No consideration of cumulative ecological impact

Currently the State is selecting lands to become part of a State Forest. They're doing this without public process, occasionally releasing maps of possible selections while maintaining the right to change those selections at any moment.