In the Summer of 2000, the Forest Service held nearly 400 public hearings across America to gain comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The Final Environmental Impact Statement showed only slight improvement over the draft. So, wild forest activists kept calling President Clinton and Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman to insist that the Tongass National Forest be protected. The National Forests are owned by all Americans, no matter what part of the country they live in. The public has the right and the opportunity to influence the management of their public lands.
Public sentiment is overwhelmingly in favor of protecting our last wild forests.
Surveys show 80 percent of the public believes more should be done to protect wilderness. Three out of every four Americans, and an even higher percentage of hunters and anglers, approve of the president's plan to protect wild forests. Various federal laws provide more than ample authority for executive action through the Secretary of Agriculture. Forest Service regulations also create mechanisms for the wholesale preservation of National Forest lands' natural values. Under these regulations the Forest Service Chief may classify lands as managed principally for recreation use substantially in their natural condition.