Stand with Tongass Tribes

The United States Forest Service is on the verge of letting us all down. Despite an overwhelming local and national pushback against any change to Roadless Rule protections for the Tongass, we’re expecting the Forest Service to release a final decision to FULLY EXEMPT the Tongass from the Roadless Rule. This could happen at any time.

The USFS isn’t just ignoring the general public, they’re also ignoring the formal input of the Tlingit and Haida tribal governments that participated in the Roadless process. This disregard is a threat to cultural survival.

A few weeks ago nine sovereign tribal governments, concerned by the course of the USFS, sent the United States Department of Agriculture a petition, asking for a NEW rule-making process. The goal of this collaborative process would be the creation of a Homelands Conservation Rule, which would allow sovereign tribes in the Tongass a mutually agreed-upon framework with the US government to ensure that the lands they depend on for cultural survival are protected from extractive industries. Most importantly, a Homelands Conservation Rule would allow tribes to have a say in “final decisions that affect … traditional and customary uses of the land. “

TAKE ACTION: Let your political leaders know that you support the request of these 9 tribes!

Read the full petition here

This action is historic. This is a call for justice and an opportunity for a paradigm shift in the way that the US Forest Service makes decisions for the Tongass.

This is the time to stand with the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes, and the tribes of Kasaan, Kake, Klawock, Hoonah, Ketchikan, Saxman, Yakutat.

Even if you have questions about what a Homelands Conservation Rule might look like, it’s hard to deny that the USFS must change the way they’re managing the Tongass, and must actually act involve tribes in land-use decisions that impact lands that are used for traditional and customary hunting, fishing, and gathering.

Reading this petition (or even just the first few pages of the petition!) is something that you should take time for. It provides a raw account of the experience of the tribes that tried to cooperate with the US Forest Service rulemaking process only to be disrespected and ignored by the agency. The petition also outlines a hopeful vision for a paradigm shift in management. Excerpt below:

“ Alaska Native cultural and traditional uses of the Tongass that have existed since time immemorial, and the modern and changing socioeconomic demands placed on the Tongass by Tribes and other southeast Alaska communities, demand a fundamental shift in how the Tongass is managed. The Tongass can no longer be viewed as stands of timber waiting for harvest; it must be viewed as a cultural resource that must be managed for the benefit of its local people, for the long-term productivity of its salmon streams and wildlife habitat, and to help mitigate impacts from climate change. "