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----- Original Message -----
Subject: TPC Call in Day - NEW PHONE NUMBER! Please
Circulate!
Please circulate this email as the phone number has changed!
Help Stop the Tongass from Becoming
Plywood!
Help out in the national call in day for the Tongass
National Forest on Monday, March 29th and Tuesday March
30th!
Call Timber Products Company at a
different number from
previous emails!
1-888-744-7861
The Alaska Coalition is asking your organization
for support in this critical time for the Tongass National Forest, our nation's
largest forest. As many of you may know, the Bush Administration lifted
protection for 9 million acres of roadless areas when it exempted the
Tongass from the Roadless Rule two days before Christmas last year. This opened
the door for business to the logging industry and we face a threat that could
turn old growth trees in the Tongass into plywood! We need your help in
a nation-wide call in day on March 29th and 30th to help stop this
nonsense!
Background on the
Tongass:
The Tongass National Forest in Alaska represents
the largest intact temperate rainforest left in the world, it is the Amazon of
North America. The Tongass is a remote coastal rainforest with centuries-old
trees providing critical habitat for wolves, bears, salmon and Bald Eagles that
have nearly disappeared from the rest of the country.
The steep mountains
and many islands that epitomize the Tongass also make it one of the most
expensive forests to log, and as a result, the Tongass timber program has been
losing taxpayer money for decades. According to GAO calculations, industrial
scale logging in the Tongass has cost the American taxpayer over $500 million
since 1992. As taxpayers foot the bill for these logging projects, the private
logging companies haul away old-growth trees at rock bottom
prices.
What is left of the Tongass? After decades of
targeting the forests’ biggest and best trees, the industry has clearcut over
70% of Southeast Alaska’s most valuable forests. For more information about the
Tongass and the call in day, go to www.akrain.org.
The Villain: Timber Products Company
Timber Products Company (TPC), based in
Oregon, is in negotiations to re-open a veneer mill in Ketchikan, Alaska that
would require logging old growth, roadless areas in
the Tongass to make veneer, a product used in making
plywood.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, running
the veneer mill profitably was contingent upon the removal of the Tongass from
the Clinton era Roadless Rule. In preliminary negotiations, the Forest Service
promised to work to provide a supply of trees from pristine roadless areas
formerly protected by the Roadless Rule. This is the last stop! Remember,
EVERY tree cut from the Tongass is still an old growth tree. Help stop
them from becoming plywood!
Flood the Phone
Lines!
You can defend
the Tongass by calling TPC directly and urge them to withdraw from negotiations
to re-open the Ketchikan veneer mill. If they stop negotiations, we’ll stop
calling them!
Place your call anytime on Monday, March 29th and
Tuesday, March 30th.
Call Timber Products Company at:
1-888-744-7861
1. Ask to speak to Joe Gonyea (chief operating
officer).
2. Tell him (or the person who probably won’t let you
talk to Joe) that TPC needs to stay out of the Tongass!
3.
Tell them that you will not purchase any TPC products if they run the veneer
mill in Ketchikan.
Get the Word Out!
Please pass this email to other organizations you know that
would like to stop the Tongass from becoming plywood! Attached is a fact sheet
that can be printed off and handed out. We need to get as many people to call as
possible. Call each day!
Finally, let us know that your organization sent this email out to its
members. We would like to to have this a coalition of many groups working
together and expand out support. Thank you for yours!
If you have any questions about the call in day or the
campaign, please feel free to call.
-Patrick
Patrick Shannon
Markets Campaign Director
Alaska Coalition
5825 N.
Greeley Ave.
Portland, OR 97217
P:503-285-1900
F:503-283-0756
Fact Sheet:
Tell the Timber Industry to Stop Turning
the
Tongass National Forest
into Plywood!
National Call In Day – March 29th &
30th!
The Amazing Tongass:
The
Tongass National Forest in Alaska represents the largest intact temperate
rainforest left in the world, it is the Amazon of North America. The Tongass is
a remote coastal rainforest with centuries-old trees providing critical habitat
for wolves, bears, salmon and Bald Eagles that have nearly disappeared from the
rest of the country.
The
steep mountains and many islands that epitomize the Tongass also make it one of
the most expensive forests to log, and as a result, the Tongass timber program
has been losing taxpayer money for decades. According to GAO calculations,
industrial scale logging in the Tongass has cost the American taxpayer over
$500 million since 1992. As taxpayers foot the bill for these logging
projects, the private logging companies haul away old-growth trees at rock
bottom prices.
The Villain:
Timber Products
Company (TPC), based in Oregon, is in negotiations to re-open a veneer mill in
Ketchikan, Alaska that would log old growth, roadless
areas in the Tongass to make veneer, a product used in making
plywood.
According to the
U.S. Forest Service, running the veneer mill profitably was contingent upon the
removal of the Tongass from the Clinton era Roadless Rule. In preliminary
negotiations, the Forest Service promised to work to provide a supply of trees
from pristine roadless areas formerly protected by the Roadless Rule. This is
the last stop! Remember, EVERY tree cut from the Tongass is still an old
growth tree!
Flood the Phone Lines!
You can defend the Tongass by calling TPC directly and urge
them to withdraw from negotiations to re-open the Ketchikan veneer mill. If they
stop negotiations, we’ll stop calling them!
Place your call anytime on Monday,
March 29th and Tuesday, March 30th.
Call Timber Products Company at:
1-888-744-7861
- Ask to speak to Joe
Gonyea (chief operating officer).
- Tell him (or the person
who probably won’t let you talk to Joe) that TPC needs to stay out of the
Tongass!
Tell
them that you will not purchase any TPC products if they run the veneer mill in
Ketchikan.
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