ELSA SEBASTIAN on Loving the Last Stands of the Tongass /141
Elsa Sebastian; Photo by Colin Arisman
The Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska is the largest temperate rainforest left in the world and it is under attack. Wrapping around 11,000 miles of coastline, this land is the unceded territory of the Haida, Tlingit and Tsimshian peoples and home to precious wild salmon, towering ancient old-growth trees, and endangered wildlife species like the Alexander Archipelago wolf. Stretching 17 million acres, the Tongass holds some of the most pristine and productive estuaries still alive on planet Earth that Trump’s Forest Service would like to hand back over to a dying logging industry. Last year, the state of Alaska announced their decision to seek exemption from Roadless Rule, a 2001 landmark conservation measure, which would remove protections for over half of the Tongass and unleash devastating resource extraction upon the land. We will not stand by and watch the beating heart of this forest be cut out and assaulted by a management system that quantifies its productivity in board feet. What happens here and now will forever mark the landscape and impact the future generations of all beings who depend on these sacred forests and waters.
Described by many as a sacrifice zone and subsidized timber colony of the US, Prince of Wales Island is one of the most heavily logged areas of the Tongass; there are over 2,500 miles of logging roads on an island that’s only 135 miles long. Our guest this week, Elsa Sebastian, knows this region well, having grown up in the fishing village of Point Baker on northern Prince of Wales Island. For most of her 20’s, Elsa captained a commercial salmon troller, fishing the wild coastline of Southeast Alaska. These days, Elsa deckhands on a drift gillnetter in Bristol Bay, and spends her winters working in conservation, most recently as Executive Director of Lynn Canal Conservation. Elsa loves wildlife and spent several years working with Alaska Whale Foundation to establish a remote field station on Baranof Island, now serving as chair of the Alaska Whale Foundation Board of Directors. Elsa founded the Last Stands project in 2017 to learn more about what remains of the worlds largest coastal temperate rainforest, the Tongass. Since founding the project she’s bushwhacked and beachwalked through hundreds of miles of forest and coastline, and sailed to threatened last stands of old-growth on her home island of Prince of Wales. Elsa is a 100 ton licensed captain and adventures from a 38-ft ketch sailboat, the Murrelet.
“It takes effort to open yourself up to love places that have been hurt.”
Elsa Sebastian; Photo by Colin Arisman
We invite you to listen deeply to Elsa’s words and fall in love with the Tongass, as she shares stories from her time in the field, alongside communities where boom and bust industry have torn people apart, and out on the water salmon fishing. Joyful and heartbreaking, Elsa’s reflections as a second-generation activist fill us with the necessity to contend with our dark, complex histories around land and rethread them into our movements. Elsa brings us the urgent truth of this time: “It really comes down to now. Will we make the decision to actually gracefully transition the Tongass away from clear cut logging? Will we take care of the people who work at that mill and provide them other jobs? Or will we just let this go as every other boom and bust community will go if it’s allowed...take the last of what stands.”
♫ Music by Erin Durant
Take Action
One of the largest threats at this time is Trump’s plan to rescind the Roadless Rule in the Tongass and open 9.2 million acres of protected land back up to logging and resource extraction. The Forest Service has announced that on Friday, October 18th, they will finally publish the draft environmental impact statement for the Roadless Rule exemption being proposed. The release will open a 60-day period for public review and comment, and, as citizens, we all have the right and responsibility to weigh in on this important decision that will determine the future of the Tongass, one of the most precious living libraries left on this earth.
You can send in your public comment TODAY through Southeast Alaska Conservation Council or SEACC’s online portal. Their plan is to flood the US Forest Service office on Saturday, October 19th (when the comment period opens) with all of the comments that they have collected so far. Thereafter, every comment made through their website will go directly to the USFS. The deadline is December 17th, 2019 at midnight Alaska time. https://www.seacc.org/usfs_comment?utm_campaign=roadless_deis_opening&utm_medium=email&utm_source=seacc
Starting on Saturday, October 19th, you can also send in your written comments directly to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and the Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen. In your letter, make sure you urge them to select Alternative One, the “no-action” alternative, on the Alaska-specific Roadless Rule. The deadline is December 17th, 2019 at midnight Alaska time.
Web www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=54511
Email akroadlessrule@fs.fed.us
Mail
USDA Forest Service,
Attn: Alaska Roadless Rule,
P.O. Box 21628,
Juneau, Alaska, 99802
Fax 907-586-7852
In-person delivery to Forest Service
709 W. 9th Street, Room 535B, Juneau, Alaska 99801
Roadless Rule initially passed in 2001 with more than 1.6 million public comments. Public participation is imperative now more than ever to uphold this important conservation measure and protect the Tongass for generations to come.
Please send out the above links to your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, businesses—anyone who cares about the future of our public lands! You can also download and share SEACC’s Roadless Rule Toolkit: https://www.seacc.org/roadless_rule_toolkit.
Make a donation to Last Stand’s fundraising campaign and support the team in bringing their stories of the Tongass to life through their beautiful art and film projects:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/tongasslaststands?member=2191830
To stay up to date and informed about issues in the Tongass, check out the following organizations, sign up for their mailing lists, and follow them on social media:
Last Stands: https://www.laststands.org/take-action
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council: https://www.seacc.org/
Audubon Alaska: https://ak.audubon.org/conservation/tongass-national-forest
Sitka Conservation Society: http://www.sitkawild.org/newsletter_sign_up
Women’s Earth & Climate Action Network (WECAN): https://www.wecaninternational.org/take-action-tongass
Earthjustice: https://earthjustice.org/action/alerts
Learn More
To learn more about protecting the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA, check out resources from WE ACT and sign up for their newsletter to stay informed about the next opportunity to speak up for public lands: https://www.weact.org/campaigns/nepa/
For The Wild is a slow media organization dedicated to land-based protection, co-liberation, and intersectional storytelling. We are rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth, and consumerism. As we dream towards a world of grounded justice and reciprocity, our work highlights impactful stories and deeply-felt meaning making as balms for these times.