Tongass Logging Project Suspended on Revilla Island
2016
In March of 2016, Crag successfully halted a commercial logging project that would have clear-cut 2,500 acres of the Tongass rainforest on Revillagigedo Island. Crag prepared a formal objection against the U.S. Forest Service due their failure to protect the already vulnerable old-growth forest.
Crag represented Greenpeace, Cascadia Wildlands, Greater Southeast Alaska Conservation Community, Center for Biological Diversity, and The Boat Company in this case.
“Much of Revilla Island, including the project area and its surroundings, has been very heavily logged. The decision on our objection to the project recognizes that crucial cumulative impacts were not taken into account by the Forest Service in its environmental review.”
– Larry Edwards, Greenpeace Forest Campaigner, Southeast Alaska
In November of 2015, Crag filed the objection against the U.S. Forest Service due to the faulty science utilized in writing their environmental impact statement and accompanying project decision. Given that the Tongass is already in a vulnerable condition due to intensive logging, the U.S. Forest Service has a responsibility to protect the remaining forest rather than allow more logging of this scale and intensity. Environmental concerns pressing the Tongass currently include (but are not limited to) habitat loss, deforestation, climate change, local large-scale industry, and road developments. An example is the 4,000-acre area of old-growth forest near the Saddle Lakes that was transferred to an independent trust organization called the Alaska Mental Health Trust, and clear-cut.
In response to administrative objections filed by Crag’s clients, the Alaska Regional Forester made the decision to put the project on hold, suspending the logging portion of the project pending further environmental review.
“We’re glad to see this project put on hold. This kind of destructive logging comes at a steep price for wildlife including wild salmon, wolves, and goshawks that call this incredible forest home. Revilla Island is a treasure of Southeast Alaska, and deserves better than continued massive clearcutting.”
– Dune Lankard, Senior Alaska representative for the Center for Biological Diversity
Crag has been battling against rampant deforestation in the Tongass for over a decade.
Resources
Learn about Crag’s work protecting forests and wildlife in the Tongass.
Read Staff Attorney Oliver Stiefel’s dedication letter after his visit to the Tongass for the first time.
Watch Cascadia Wild’s video about groundtruthing in the Tongass – featuring Crag staff attorney Oliver Stiefel.
Watch Cascadia Wildlands’ video about ground truthing in the Tongass.
Our Clients
Crag supported and represented Greenpeace, Cascadia Wildlands, Greater Southeast Alaska Conservation Community, Center for Biological Diversity, and The Boat Company in this case against deforestation in the Tongass National Forest.
Greenpeace uses non-violent creative action to pave the way towards a greener, more peaceful world, and to confront the systems that threaten our environment.
Cascadia Wildlands is a nonprofit conservation organization with a mission to defend and restore Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets.
Greater Southeast Alaska Conservation Community’s mission is to protect the biological integrity of Southeast Alaska forests, freshwater, and ocean systems.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit membership organization known for its work protecting endangered species through legal action, scientific petitions, creative media and grassroots activism.
The Boat Company is a small ship eco-cruise company offering sustainable eco-cruises exploring the Tongass in Southeast Alaska.