Conservation and climate groups call on USDA to end taxpayer subsidies for Tongass logging
Tuesday PM (SitNews) Washington, D.C. - A coalition of conservation and climate organizations have submitted a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, asking his agency to “take the fiscally responsible step of prohibiting federal funds from being used to pay for, subsidize, design, study or construct roads for logging in the Tongass National Forest.” The Tongass National Forest is the cornerstone of Southeast Alaska’s economy, attracting people from around the world for world-class recreation, hunting, and sport and commercial salmon fishing. In recent years, the tourism and commercial fishing industries that depend on a health Tongass have generated $1 billion apiece in annual economic benefit. The timber industry, on the other hand, presently provides less than 1% of jobs in the Southeast economy. Despite that reality, the Tongass timber program has cost the American taxpayer $600 million in the last two decades. The letter states: