Under the so-called "Vilsack policy," Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has said he would personally review and approve applications to cut timber in the roadless areas of our national forests.

His first act? He wants to invite chainsaws into a protected roadless area of Alaska's Tongass National Forest. The Tongass is our largest national forest and one of our most precious wild places.

Vilsack's logging plan would fell trees in a pristine forest — cutting timber in an old growth valley that comprises the only intact watershed in the area.

Proponents of the plan say it makes sense in our tough economic times. But that's not true.

According to the Wilderness Society, "American taxpayers have not only watched as the Tongass has been picked apart by road building and logging, they've paid for the privilege. The tab extends beyond $750 million over 20 years. In a single year alone, the Forest Service spent $36 million on the Tongass timber program and got back in revenues only $1 million."

In fact, as Carol Cairnes, president of the board of the Tongass Conservation Society points out: "Cutting these trees will not even bring in half the money the Forest Service will spend building a road to get to the trees."

Click here to tell Sec. Vilsack: Stop chopping down our national forests.

Thank you for working to build a better world.

Source: CREDO