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Greetings from the Alaska Coalition,
We are writing with a very important request of you and your organization. No, we are not asking for money or your organization's time and resources. But what we are asking for can help save America's last frontier.
Our request is simple. We'd like to invite you to endorse protecting Alaska's important public lands such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Tongass and Chugach National Forests.
Alaska's rainforest is the Amazon of North America. This remote coastal rainforest with centuries-old trees, provides critical habitat for wolves, bears, salmon, bald eagles and other wildlife that have nearly disappeared from the rest of the country. Stretching 1,000 miles in America's last frontier from Ketchikan to Kodiak, the Alaskan rainforest contains the crown jewels of this country's National Forest System - the Tongass and Chugach National Forests. Regrettably, recent decisions by the Bush Administration have put wilderness in both of these forests at risk.
The Forest Service chose a "no action" alternative for the Tongass Wilderness Plan which heavily favors the commercial timber industry over other users of the Tongass by recommending no new Wilderness. The Bush Administration looked at over 9 million acres of the wildest, most pristine forest in the world and it decided that none of that portion of the Tongass deserved permanent protection as Wilderness.
Like Africa's Serengeti Plain, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge contains an amazing abundance of wildlife. Millions of birds (125 different species) travel to the coastal plain from almost every state and five different continents. Polar bears den on the arctic plains, musk ox roam along glacial rivers, and wolves prowl the foothills. Dall sheep scale the mountaintops and grizzly bears haunt the open tundra. Most notable of all, the 129,000-member Porcupine River caribou herd migrates hundreds of miles from Canada's Yukon Territory to the coastal plain of the refuge to give birth to its young every spring.
Unfortunately, however, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is also the target of multinational oil corporations that want to extract crude oil from the fragile tundra. For years, these oil conglomerates have been lobbying Congress to allow drilling in the Arctic Refuge coastal plain, the last five percent of Alaska's vast North Slope not already open to oil exploration or development.
You might wonder what all this has to do with the your organization. Well, there's an old saying, "all politics is local." We can permanently protect the Arctic Refuge and Alaska's Rainforest by convincing Congress to pass legislation adding the 1.5 million-acre coastal plain to our nation's wilderness preservation system and to permanently protect wilderness in the Tongass and Chugach National Forests.
The reason why the Arctic Refuge has thus far remained free from the clutches of big oil companies is principally due to the efforts of the Alaska Coalition, a collection of hundreds of local, state, and national organizations who endorse protection of this "Last Great Wilderness." Members of the Alaska Coalition include the United Methodist Church, Garden Club of America, and a variety of conservation groups.
By joining the Alaska Coalition, you send an important message to your congressional delegation that your members don't want to see these irreplaceable Alaska wild lands sacrificed for as little as 6 months worth of oil or for unprocessed timber to be exported to Japan.
How do you join the Alaska Coalition? It's simple. Just sign the enclosed reply form indicating your organization's support for protecting Alaska's national treasures. You don't have to pay any dues or make any time commitment, but your signature on the attached form will go a long way!
Of course, as a member of the Alaska Coalition you and your organization will receive some important benefits. You'll get regular updates, newsletters, and action alerts on the Arctic Refuge, the Alaska Rainforest and other Alaska conservation issues. You can use these to inform your members about important battles in Washington and take credit for your group's important role as a member of the coalition.
Other benefits of joining the coalition include access to free Arctic Refuge and Alaska Rainforest videos and posters. You'll also have an opportunity to nominate one of your members or staff for a free trip to Washington, D.C. to participate in a grassroots-training workshop.
Once
again, your level of involvement is entirely up to you. To join the Alaska
Coalition send back the endorsement
form to Alaska Coalition, 122 C St NW Suite 240, Washington, DC 20001,
fax the endorsement to (202) 544-5197 or JOIN
ONLINE HERE.
For more information contact Dan Ritzman, the National Outreach Director
at dan@alaskacoalition.org.
This simple action can help protect Alaska's amazing public lands for future
generations. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Dan
Ritzman
Executive Director
Alaska Coalition
(202) 628-1843 phone
To find out who else is a member of the coalition, click
here.
To view a PDF of the Coalition endorsement form, click here.