The large wildfires we’ve been experiencing across the West—which risk the lives of residents and firefighters and threaten homes—are the result of high temperatures and drought made worse by climate change (coinciding with high winds). And the two most important actions we can take in response are to:
Make homes “Firewise.”
Preserve our carbon-storing forests.
Appallingly, Congress continues to siphon our taxpayer dollars that could fund “Firewise” programs to instead CUT DOWN our public forests under the phony guise of “wildfire risk reduction” to the tune of over $3.3 billion.
A number of studies show that logging forests cannot prevent the large fires that threaten our communities (again, primarily the byproduct of hot temperatures, dry conditions, and high winds). To the contrary, logging can actually dry out forests by opening stands to sunlight and wind, and even spread flames faster.
Yet right now, tens of millions of acres of your public lands are on the chopping block under this fraudulent scheme that endangers our homes and lives.
Please CLICK HERE to contact your Congressional delegation with our letter demanding that they stop wasting your taxes on logging our living climate buffers–our National Forests and Bureau of Land Management lands–and instead put every dollar into making our communities Firewise.
On July 4, Eco-Integrity Alliance is kicking off its “Firewise NOT Logging” campaign with a billboard in Denver, Colorado to pressure Congress to stop wasting taxpayer dollars cutting down our National Forests under the phony guise of “wildfire risk reduction” ($3.3 billion under the 2021 infrastructure bill ) and instead fund Firewise programs to actually save homes from burning.
Colorado’s congressional delegation of Senator John Hickenlooper, Senator Michael Bennet, and Representative Joe Neguse are leading the charge (backed by several other politicians) to put tens of millions of acres of your public lands on the chopping block under this fraudulent scheme that endangers our homes, lives, and carbon-storing forests.
A number of studies show that logging forests cannot prevent the large fires that threaten our communities, which are the byproduct of hot temperatures, dry conditions, and high winds. To the contrary, logging can actually dry out forests by opening stands to sunlight and wind, and even spread flames faster. Meanwhile, making homes Firewise can protect 95% of structures from even the largest wildfires.
Close to a million people saw Eco-Integrity Alliance’s first billboard in Oregon last year. We’ve already paid for a month of exposure for our Denver one, but we’ll need your help if we’re going to keep it up—along with that pressure on our elected officials to do the right thing.
Will you protect homes, lives, and our living climate buffers—our public forests—by making a contribution towards our goal of $1,300 to keep the billboard up for another month? (If we don’t meet our goal, all funds will go for seed money for a billboard in another state).
Eco-Integrity Alliance, a new coalition of U.S. environmentalists uniting the environmental movement, along with 20 leading conservation organizations, sent a letter today to Rep. Joe Neguse, chair of the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, asking him to schedule a new Congressional hearing for the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA).
NREPA—already introduced into the House with 58 co-sponsors and in the Senate with 11 co-sponsors—would create biological zones connecting new and existing wilderness and roadless areas over 23 million acres across Idaho, Montana, Washington, Oregon, and Wyoming.
Rep. Neguse recently canceled a planned hearing on this historic and timely bill without any explanation or transparency.
“If Rep. Neguse is serious about tackling climate change and addressing the eco-crisis, he must allow public testimony for NREPA, which is not only of crucial importance for protecting the unique and threatened Northern Rockies bioregion but can act as a model for every region of the U.S.,” says Josh Schlossberg, Colorado-based steering committee member of Eco-Integrity Alliance.
Containing some of the most ecologically rich lands left in the U.S., National Forests and Bureau of Land Management areas filter clean water, prevent flooding and erosion, provide fish and wildlife habitat, and are some of our best buffers against climate change. These federally owned lands are still open to extraction from private corporations in the form of logging, mining, drilling, and grazing, with a recent study showing that logging emits more carbon than wildfire and insects combined.
Eco-Integrity Alliance’s mission is to unite the “alternative” environmental movement under a big tent of ecological integrity through common campaigns of mutual support. Eco-Integrity Alliance’s six-person steering committee members are based in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Colorado. Guiding Principles and other info can be found at eco-integrityalliance.org.
We, the undersigned, ask you, Rep. Joe Neguse, as chair of the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, to schedule a new Congressional hearing for the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA).
NREPA—already introduced into the House with 58 co-sponsors and in the Senate with 11 co-sponsors—would create biological zones connecting new and existing wilderness and roadless areas over 23 million acres across Idaho, Montana, Washington, Oregon, and Wyoming.
As it is our understanding that a planned hearing was recently canceled (without any explanation or transparency), we therefore ask you to please reschedule it to allow expert testimony on this historic and timely bill.
With climate change looming as one of the worst crises facing our nation and world today, protecting our carbon-storing public forests is among the most effective—and easiest—actions Congress can take to significantly reduce emissions. For example, a recent study shows that logging emits more carbon than wildfire and insects combined.[1]
Encompassing some of the most ecologically rich lands left in the U.S., our National Forests and public lands managed by BLM (Bureau of Land Management) also filter clean water, prevent flooding and erosion, and provide essential fish habitat and intact wildlife habitat. Unfortunately, these federally owned lands are still open to extraction from private corporations in the form of destructive logging, mining, drilling, and grazing, all subsidized by the American taxpayer.
Not only is NREPA of crucial importance for protecting this unique and threatened Northern Rockies bioregion across five western states, we believe the bill can act as a model for safeguarding ecosystems across every region of the U.S.
Mike Garrity, Alliance for the Wild Rockies (Montana)
Paul Sieracki, Geospatial Analyst/Wildlife Biologist, retired (Idaho)
Denise Boggs, Conservation Congress (Montana)
Keith Hammer, Swan View Coalition (Montana)
Patty Ames, Flathead-Lolo-Bitterroot Citizen Task Force (Montana)
Paula Hood, Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project (Oregon)
Andy Mahler, Shagbark (Indiana)
Steven Krichbaum, PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology (Virginia)
Dr. Joseph Scalia III, Gallatin Yellowstone Wilderness Alliance (Montana)
Jason Christensen, Yellowstone to Uintas Connection (Idaho)
George Wuerthner, Public Lands Media (Oregon)
George Nickas, Wilderness Watch (Montana)
Matt Peters, Heartwood (Pennsylvania)
Rachel Fazio, John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute (California)
Sam Stearns, Friends of Bell Smith Springs (Illinois)
Phil Knight, Montanans for Gallatin Wilderness (Montana)
Ara Marderosian, Sequoia ForestKeeper (California)
[1] Harris, N.L. et al. 2016. “Attribution of net carbon change by disturbance type across forest lands of the conterminous United States.” Carbon Balance and Management, 11:24.
Eco-Integrity Alliance, a new coalition of U.S. environmentalists uniting the alternative environmental movement, endorses Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA), a bill encompassing nearly 20 million acres across Idaho, Montana, Washington, Oregon, and Wyoming, creating biological zones to connect new and existing wilderness and roadless areas.
Containing some of the most ecologically-rich lands left in the U.S., our National Forests and Bureau of Land Management lands filter clean water, prevent flooding and erosion, provide fish and wildlife habitat, and are some of our best buffers against climate change. Unfortunately, these federally-owned public lands are still open to extraction from private corporations in the form of destructive logging, mining, drilling, and grazing, all subsidized by U.S. taxpayers. Only Wilderness designation can protect these lands from this otherwise inevitable degradation and destruction.
Not only is NREPA of crucial importance for protecting this unique and threatened Northern Rockies bioregion for the sake of biodiversity, climate, and endangered grizzly bears,” says Michele Dieterich, Montana-based steering committee member of Eco-Integrity Alliance, “it provides a model for protecting ecosystems across every region of the U.S.”
Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA) has been introduced in both the House and Senate, with a hearing soon to be taking place before the House Natural Resource Committee, subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.
Eco-Integrity Alliance’s mission is to unite the alternative environmental movement under a big tent of ecological integrity through common campaigns of mutual support. Its vision is to proliferate a paradigm of genuine ecological sustainability across the United States.
Eco-Integrity Alliance’s six-person steering committee members are based in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Colorado, and will soon be opening to national membership. Its Guiding Principles and other info can be found at eco-integrityalliance.org.
Eco-Integrity Alliance 