Stretching 500 miles along the southeast coast of Alaska, the Tongass National Forest lies at the heart of the world's largest remaining temperate rainforest. With its towering groves of ancient trees, the Tongass supports vibrant populations of eagles, grizzlies, wolves and salmon.

At the behest of the logging industry, the Forest Service has repeatedly tried to sacrifice this vast wilderness to clearcut logging. The Bush administration illegally exempted the forest from the landmark 2001 "roadless rule," which bans logging and road construction in the most pristine areas of our national forests.

In 2009, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced that any road building or logging in some 50 million roadless acres of national forest, including the Tongass, would require his personal approval. But unless the Obama administration immediately reverses the exemption and restores full protection for the Tongass, timber sales could take place as early as the summer of 2009, threatening many of the old-growth stands that form the wild heart of this magnificent forest.