U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, wants to repeal the 2016 Tongass Plan Amendment to log remaining old growth on the Tongass, decreasing fish habitat protections. She’s included this measure in the upcoming budget bill Congress will vote on March 23.
We in Southeast Alaska already experience the impacts of climate change. Unpredictable weather, multiple landslides, warming ocean conditions negatively affecting fish runs, starfish and other problems are concerning us all, right now.
New studies show old growth forests continue to store carbon for centuries. When forest are cut down, carbon is released, taking decades for new trees to start storing carbon again. Our temperate rainforest stores more carbon than other type of forest, so it’s vitally important in the fight against climate change. An intact Tongass can make Alaska a global leader in the effort to mitigate climate change by offseting carbon emissions.
Timber accounts for 1 percent of our Southeast jobs, but logging releases carbon, increases climate change and decreases fish habitat protection necessary for fishing and tourism industries. Why is Murkowski putting us at risk for short-term dollars that leave our state, when we rely on an intact forest?
If you care about climate change and the future of fishing and tourism industries, call Murkowski. Tell her to stop attacking the Tongass. We need to keep the 2016 Tongass Plan Amendment in place and keep our forest intact as we move into the future.
Libby Stortz,
Sitka