#chief

david_lazarus@pluspora.com

Please help save the Tongass National Forest
#Tongass #NationalForest #Forest #Rainforest #Alaska #RoadlessRule #NRDC #RandyMoore #Chief #USForestService #Letter

"Before leaving office, Trump stripped protections from 9 million acres of Alaska's pristine Tongass National Forest in a blatant giveaway to logging companies and other corporate interests.

More than a year later, the Tongass — the heart of the largest intact temperate rainforest in the entire world — is still unprotected.

It's up to the Biden administration now to follow through on its promise to undo Trump's damage and restore protections for these wildlands. As they begin the mandatory rule-making process, administration officials need to hear from as many people like you and me as possible — people who care deeply about the Tongass, all cherished wildlands, and our climate.

The administration is seeking public input on this plan — but only until January 24.

The Trump administration gutted protections for the Tongass by rolling back something called the Roadless Rule, which protected these wildlands from industrial logging by prohibiting companies from harvesting timber and building roads through the forest.

Even as many other public lands have been invaded by industrial development over the years, the Roadless Rule has kept the Tongass virtually pristine.

The benefits are impossible to overstate. The Roadless Rule has:

🔹 Helped preserve the traditional and cultural practices of the region's Indigenous communities who have relied on these lands for millennia
🔹 Protected millions of acres of irreplaceable old growth trees that store more carbon per acre than almost any other forest on the planet, making it an absolutely critical tool as we fight the climate crisis
🔹 Preserved the habitats of wildlife species like the Alexander Archipelago wolf, brown and black bears, salmon, and bald eagles
🔹 Powered the local economy, which relies heavily on fishing and tourism

For these reasons and more, NRDC has been fighting for decades against corporate interests to defend the Tongass. So, when the Trump administration rolled back protections, we joined with Indigenous communities and rushed to court to stop them.

But the fight isn't over. We must ensure that the Biden administration feels the pressure from activists like you and follows through on its promise to save the Tongass by reinstating the Roadless Rule.

Thank you for standing with us again and again and for fighting for the Tongass.

Sincerely,

Garett Rose
Senior Policy Advocate, Nature, NRDC"

You can help by submitting a public comment before the January 24 comment deadline. Help NRDC reach our goal of sending 20,000 letters in defense of the Tongass.

jj1@pod.geraspora.de

Der #Polizeichef Art #Acevedo findet klare Worte nach der Tötung von George #Floyd.

CNN'S AMANPOUR

Interview With Nikole Hannah-Jones
Interview With Houston, Texas, Police Chief Art Acevedo
Interview With Martin Luther King III and DeRay McKesson
Interview With D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton

Aired June 1, 2020 - 14:16 ET

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZBZ_hwUobw

[...]

AMANPOUR: The role and responsibility of law enforcement, Art Acevedo, chief of police in Houston, Texas, George Floyd's hometown, he joins us.

[...]

AMANPOUR: So, you have said what happened in Minneapolis to George Floyd and everything that's happening there and around the country is a crucial test of your profession. You have said that. It's a crucial test of our profession in terms of law enforcement.

I need to ask you this, because some of the latest news is that President Trump, as we know, has had a conference call with governors. And some of that audio has come out, and we're using it. And in it, he says to governors, he says, you're weak. He says, many of you should be not showing this weakness. We're laughingstocks. You need to dominate. You need to dominate.

I want to ask you not to, if you don't want to, comment on the president of the United States. But is the right direction for police today in this environment to go out and dominate and to show that they're -- quote, unquote -- "not weak"?
What is -- what should the police be doing now to calm this terrible situation?

ACEVEDO: Let me just say this to the president of the United States on behalf of the police chiefs in this country.

Please, if you don't have something constructive to say, keep your mouth shut, because you're putting men and women in their early 20s at risk. It's not about dominating. It's about winning hearts and minds. And let's be clear. We do not want people to confuse kindness with weakness. But we don't want ignorance to ruin what we have got here in Houston.

And speaking for my colleagues across the country, where their officers are being injured, community members are being injured, if you don't have something to say, like Forrest Gump, then don't say it, because that's the basic tenets of leadership.

And we need leadership now more than ever. And it hurts me to no end, because we -- whether we vote for someone, we don't vote for someone, it's still our president. But it's time to be presidential and not try to be like you're on "The Apprentice." This is -- this is not -- this is not Hollywood. This is real life. And real lives are at risk. And I ask the American people to please join with the police, stand together. Let's shift this to where it needs to be, to the voting booth. Pay attention to the hearts and of the people that we elect.

[...]

#USA #police #Floyd #chief #Acevedo #Minneapolis #racism #shot