Hundreds of species -- from wolves and wolverines to salmon and bull trout -- call Idaho's "Big Wild" home. Spanning nearly 4 million acres in the heart of the state, it's the largest intact ecosystem remaining in the lower 48. But it's also now at great risk.
The Forest Service there wants to open the door to development on these lands.
The agency's newly proposed management plan for the area -- a plan that governs all uses for decades to come -- combines the Nez Perce and Clearwater national forests into one while weakening longstanding protections for clean water and wildlife.
The Forest Service needs to hear loud and clear that its current proposal is unacceptable.
Take action below -- urge the Forest Service to protect Idaho's Big Wild and adopt the citizens' proposal prepared by Friends of the Clearwater.
I am writing to express my concern with the proposed forest plan revision for the Nez Perce and Clearwater national forests, which would significantly decrease current protections for fish and wildlife. I urge you to instead adopt the citizens' alternative prepared by Friends of the Clearwater.
[Your comment will be added here]
The new forest plan needs to include clear and enforceable standards to ensure protection for the area's imperiled species like wolves, bears, lynx, wolverines, salmon and bull trout. And these standards must be based on the best available science, which recognizes the critical importance of these wildlands in central Idaho.
The Forest Service must also protect all remaining roadless areas on these national forests. Due to past forest fragmentation and ongoing climate change, these unroaded areas are far more important as protected refuges for fish and wildlife than any other use or activity. And the Forest Service must protect the remaining old-growth forests on these lands, as well as the area's rivers and streams, improving upon existing standards for water quality, rather than weakening these standards with loopholes, exceptions and unenforceable provisions.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
