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From June 20th to 26th, WECAN International is honored to travel to Hoonah and Juneau in Southeast Alaska to continue our ongoing '
Women for Forests' campaign in the region. We will learn from, strategize and strengthen our advocacy and collaboration with Indigenous women leaders working to defend and protect the Tongass National Forest, currently under attack. Wanda Culp, Tlingit activist and WECAN Tongass Coordinator will be guiding this important delegation.
The Tongass Rainforest of Alaska exists within the traditional homelands of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Peoples and has been called 'America's climate forest' due to its unsurpassed ability to sequester carbon and mitigate climate impacts. For decades however, industrial scale logging and climate chaos has been destroying this precious ecosystem and harming local communities.
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"We support the current Roadless Rule and its protections for Alaska's Tongass National Forest, Tlingit territory. Prohibiting industrial logging in these areas of the forest protects them for generations to come. The Roadless Rule was a two-decade battle against industrial clear cutting in the Tongass. The 2001 national interest response against clear cutting was the largest on record, thus the Tongass land management plan developed at that time and its strength must not be weakened for corporate interests."
- Wanda "Kashudoha" Loescher Culp, Tlingit activist, artist and WECAN Tongass Coordinator
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| Tongass old-growth forest clear cut. Photo by WECAN International/Emily Arasim. |
During our advocacy and education delegation we will participate in and document the 'Turn Out for the Tongass' rally, co-organized by WECAN International and
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council
(SEACC) and led by Indigenous peoples. Participants in the rally will voice support for the continuation of the 2001 National Roadless Rule - an important measure to protect the Tongass National Forest. Alaskan congressional members are trying to exempt the Tongass from the Roadless Rule, which would open this ancient forest to more logging roads and old-growth clear cutting.
In Juneau, we will also investigate how local communities are dealing with the impacts of this year's
record-breaking heat in Alaska
, which has already led to multiple deaths, melting sea ice, and coastal erosion.
After meetings, press events, and the rally in Juneau, we travel to Hoonah to hold strategy sessions with members of the
WECAN Indigenous Women's Tongass Delegation
, as well as other women leaders in the region. A few months ago, the WECAN Tongass delegation was in Washington D.C. meeting face-to-face with lawmakers to advocate for the Roadless Rule. The Delegation participated in 16 meetings on Capitol Hill and our advocacy was instrumental in
Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Representative Ruben Gallego (D-NM) introducing the Roadless Area Conservation Act
to Congress.
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The WECAN Indigenous Women's Tongass Delegation with Representative Deb Haaland (D-NM) in Washington D.C., from left to right:
Adrien Nichol Lee
, Tlingit, President of the Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 12 and keeper of cultural Tlingit education;
Rebekah Sawers
, Alaskan Native Yupik and a mother, a daughter and an aunt now living in the Tongass;
Kari Ames
, Tlingit, Alaska Native Voices Cultural Heritage Guide and keeper of traditional life-ways;
Wanda "Kashudoha" Loescher Culp
, Tlingit, activist, artist and WECAN Coordinator in the Tongass. Photo by Melissa Lyttle.
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For the Indigenous women on the frontlines, and many others who call the Tongass home, the struggle is not only about protecting the forest, it is also about protecting and defending their
traditional life-ways, medicine, and food systems.
For millennia, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Peoples have built deep spiritual, physical, and cultural connections with the land that extends beyond concepts of biodiversity conservation - for them, the forest is life.
Their deep understanding of the land can teach us all how to live as a healthy part of a larger ecosystem, fostering respect and reciprocity with the natural world.
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| Wanda Culp, WECAN Tongass Coordinator and Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN International Executive Director, picking berries in the Tongass forest. Photo by WECAN International/Emily Arasim. |
We must recognize that as the government and timber industry work to open up the Tongass to devastating, industrial scale logging, they are not only destroying the forest but they are actively
contributing to the ongoing genocide of Indigenous Peoples whose identities, cultures, and livelihoods are integral to the forest.
When forests are managed with respect to Indigenous and local community ecological practices, biodiversity flourishes,
the planet cools
, and climate change is mitigated.
Recent reports state the world's forests
can provide 18 percent
of the climate change mitigation needed through 2030.
The entire world depends on front-line women defenders of the forests.
Please support
this campaign to lift up Indigenous women land defenders and allies in the Tongass, and support our collective climate and communities for generations to come.
If you would like to stay up to date with our Tongass Delegation to Alaska please follow us on social media for photos, videos, and updates!
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TURN OUT FOR THE TONGASS RALLY
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Saturday June 22, 2019
10:00 - 12:00pm Alaska Time
About: The 2001 National Roadless Rule is under attack! The Alaska congressional delegation is trying to exempt the Tongass from the 2001 National Roadless Rule with an Alaska-specific Roadless Rule. This would open the Tongass to more logging roads and old-growth clearcutting.
Join your fellow Southeast Alaskans in the streets to show the Alaska delegation, the USFS, and USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue that we Turn Out For The Tongass and support the 2001 National Roadless Rule!
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For the Earth and All Generations,
The Women's Earth and Climate Action Network
(WECAN) International Team
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