Yesterday, two former Chiefs of the Forest Service and more than 70 other top scientists called on President Obama to end old-growth logging. In particular, the scientists said that the best strategy for Pacific rainforests such as the Tongass National Forest in Alaska is “to establish conservation reserves and leave them alone.” The scientists included Jack Ward Thomas and Mike Dombeck (both former Chiefs of the Forest Service) as well as leading biologists E.O. Wilson, Paul Alaback, and Gordon Orians.

Audubon Alaska agrees that it is high time to end the Forest Service’s old-growth clear-cutting habit in the Tongass. The Forest Service needs to put its resources into protecting and advancing Southeast Alaska’s billion dollar fishing and recreation industries, not into subsidized timber sales that hurt the fishing and tourism industries, harm birds and wildlife, and cost taxpayers.

Photo of Cascade Creek in the Tongass by Beth Peluso