As your constituent, I am writing to voice my opposition to the "Sealaska Bill" (S.881), which is moving through the House and Senate presently. The legislation, which has garnered significant national and local opposition, would transfer high value public lands in the Tongass National Forest to Sealaska Corporation for industrial clearcut logging and other private development.

At 17 million acres, the Tongass is our largest national forest and is one of the last, intact coastal temperate rainforests in the world. Old-growth forests and salmon streams still support abundant fish and wildlife populations, sustain traditional ways of life, provide outstanding recreation opportunities, and serve as the lynchpin for local economies. Yet for decades the Tongass has also been a place of controversy where land issues pit neighbor against neighbor. The Sealaska bill only serves to continue and codify this conflict.

The future of the Tongass' forest-dependent rural communities, and the unique rainforest ecosystem, lies in moving away from the intensive logging practices of the past to restoration, small-diameter wood utilization and a locally scaled wood products industry that provides local economic benefits. This bill does nothing to further that future and in fact threatens its viability by selecting the best remaining old growth forest. S.881 fails to consider the needs of the unique and rare rainforest environment and could adversely impact small, forest-dependent communities and local industries, including the region's leading economic engines -- tourism and commercial fishing.

I ask that you oppose S. 881, a unilateral and controversial piece of legislation, and instead support this collaboratively identified vision for a sustainable ecological and economic future for Southeast Alaska.

Thank you for your leadership on this issue.

Sincerely,