The rare marten caurina is found only on Kuiu and Admiralty Islands in the Tongass National Forest. Located in southeastern Alaska, the Tongass is largest forest in the United States and home to many other animals, including grizzly bears, salmon, bald eagles, Queen Charlotte Goshawks and Alexander Archipelago wolves. Conservationists are concerned about their welfare following the Bush administration's recent plan to allow logging on more than two million acres in the forest.
On Friday, two conservation groups -- Greenpeace and Cascadia Wildlands Project -- filed a suit against the US Forest Service, arguing that the agency has concealed the true environmental impact of old-growth logging in the Tongass. Larry Edwards of Greenpeace said, "The Forest Service has misapplied the science and has stonewalled all challenges." Rodger Schlickeisen, the president of the animal advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife, said that the Tongass "serves as one of the last refuges for wildlife in a warming world, and the administration should not deprive its unique wildlife of this safe harbor."
GET INFORMED
- Read "New Logging Plan Threatens Rare Forest Mammals" (Defenders of Wildlife, July 11, 2008)
- Read "Suit Filed to Stop Timber Sales in Alaska's Tongass" (Alaska Report, July 11, 2008)
- Sign the Defenders of Wildlife petition urging U.S. Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell to protect roadless areas and old-growth forests in the Tongass National Forest -- and the martens and other forest wildlife that live there
