Forest Protection Advocacy

Centerpieces of Sierra Club MA Forest Advocacy

Join us as we:

Strive to save trees and forests on public lands in Massachusetts, and expand urban forests, based on the scientific principle that trees are more valuable alive than dead for averting catastrophic climate disruption, preventing biodiversity collapse, and protecting public health.
Connect and integrate local, state, national, and international forest policies. Local policies have global consequences.

Public lands in public hands. "Authoritarians thrive on your silence. Be Loud!" JB Pritzker, Governor of Illinois

Protests grow daily as Americans in all fifty states express outrage over the Trump Administration’s decisions to sell, lease, or give away our public lands to extractive industries. These anti-democratic, anti-science policies are a direct threat to our world-class recreation economy, our public health, and the health of the natural ecosystems that sustain us.

Our work is directed to the adoption of better policies to protect forests at the state and national levels. Policies to:

preserve Massachusetts public state forests,
prevent the sale, lease, or transfer of federal public lands,
maintain federal control and funding for public lands by the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, guided by environmental regulations mandated by Congress.

PRESERVE MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC STATE FORESTS

October 15 was our big day at the Statehouse. The Forest Protection Team:

held a rally with Representatives Gentile and Sena, sponsors of our forest protection bills, Zack Porter of Speak for the Trees, and Dr. William Stubblefield,
delivered a petition with over 1,000 signatures to Governor Healey to end logging on public lands of the Quabbin, Wachusett, and Ware watersheds, and
visited legislators - delivered information on forest bills and asked for their support.

Read and see more about October 15^th rally and petition drop:
Recap: At the Statehouse for State Forests!

It is not too late to add your name.
We are collecting signatures through 2026.

Act Now Contact MA legislators. Ask for support for the forest protection bills. To take action go to MA Forest Protection Bills 2025 page for bills and factsheets.

PREVENT THE SALE, LEASE, OR TRANSFER OF FEDERAL PUBLIC LANDS

Our messages to Congress, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service:

Public lands, forests, wildlife refuges, and monuments are not for sale or transfer.
Reverse the anti-democratic and anti-science land use and energy agenda in H.R.1, the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill.’ H.R. 1:
- “guts the public’s ability to participate in decision-making.
- It sidelines the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), constrains public comment, and significantly narrows opportunities for legal recourse.
- In effect, it muzzles Americans who care about their public lands — whether they’re local business owners, elected officials, Indigenous leaders or trail stewards.” Walt Dabney, retired US Forest Service Director from Utah: America’spublicland.com, Voices: I’ve helped manage Utah’s public lands. Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ is a far-reaching assault.
Public lands are the driver of the $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy. Privatization of public lands in Utah threatens to derail Utah’s $9 billion annual outdoor recreation economy.
Fully staff and fund the National Park Service

Collage of photos of people enjoying public lands

Six retired U.S. Forest Service Chiefs wrote an opinion piece in the Denver Post, 4/13/25, We served national forests under both parties, and know today our public lands are in danger (Opinion) Divesting our public lands from public ownership would be a grievous error with these comments:

“We are adamant that divesting our public lands from public ownership would be a grievous error. We encourage all Americans to support the public servants who work for you and, most importantly, the public lands that belong to all of us and define us as Americans.

Are these drastic actions the first steps toward crippling the agencies so they cannot carry out their Congressionally mandated mission? If so, they portend a cynical effort to divest and transfer federal public lands to the States and private interests. Divestiture of these precious lands, that belong to all citizens rich and poor, would be an irreparable tragedy.”

Act Now SUBMIT COMMENTS here. Tell Congress: Defend our public lands agencies. The Trump administration is using the government shutdown as cover to dismantle the very agencies that safeguard our public lands. The shutdown has ended, but now we must recover the lost jobs & reduced funds.

DO NOT DISMANTLE THE U.S. FOREST SERVICE.

The USDA fired all Forest Service scientists and career experts. It plans to reorganize the Forest Service, eliminate all regional offices, and consolidate all R&D Stations into one.

Letter to Secretary Brooke Rollins, Secretary of the USDA from the National Association of US Forest Service Retirees: Do not reorganize the USFS by eliminating all Regional Offices without providing clear replacement strategies. “Regional Offices provide specialized expertise. Regional Office specialists have deep institutional knowledge and provide invaluable support and perspective to Forest and District level specialists.

We are overwhelmingly supportive of Forest Service Research and Development and its Research Stations. This proposal calls for consolidating all stand-alone research stations into a single location in Fort Collins, CO. Forest Service Research and Development is a world class organization with a rich history and stellar reputation. Consolidating all research stations into a single location will seriously degrade the agency’s ability to deliver essential goods and services to the American people.”

Forest Service Retirees recommendations:

“Reassess the reorganization plan with input from Congressional committees, stakeholders, and the public.
Ensure that the reorganization plan will allow the F.S. to continue to provide significant benefits to rural communities and rural economies as it has for generations.”

PROTECT THE ROADLESS RULE: KEEP ROADS AND LOGGING OUT OF NATIONAL FORESTS.

“Roadless areas are invaluable, irreplaceable, and bring immeasurable benefits to our country,” Representative Chellie Pingree, Maine

Protecting our oldest forests fact sheet page 1

Protecting our oldest forests fact sheet page 2

Act Now SIGN THE PETITION here: Congress: Pass the Roadless Area Conservation Act (RACA) The RACA codifies the Roadless Rule into law, which would ensure that places like White Mountain National Forest (NH), Green Mountain NF (VT) and Tsongas (AK) stay standing.

NOTE: The comment period to save the Roadless Rule ended on September 19. Thanks to all of the tens-of-thousands who submitted comments to the Forest Service! The focus of our action now turns to Congress. There is strong bipartisan support for the Roadless Area Conservation Act. The bill has 50 co-sponsors in the US House.

Learn more about the Roadless Rule:

Excellent story map from Standing Trees: Big, Wild, and Connected: The Roadless Rule and New England’s Forest Future
Excellent story map highlights Roadless Rule impacts in the west: Keep it Roadless, storymap, Save Our Canyons, 8/29/25
Trump to rescind Roadless Rule, ending protections for 58 million acres nationwide, Montana Free Press
Why Reversing The Forest Service’s Roadless Rule Matters For All Nature-Loving Americans, Yellowstonian, June 25/2025

Statement by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), U.S. House Committee on Appropriations, Ranking Member of Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies:

“The USDA’s decision to [rescind the Roadless Rule and] open 58 million acres of federal forests and grasslands to private industry is just the latest example of this Administration’s total disregard for our public lands. There’s a reason why communities, businesses, sporting groups, tribes, and other stakeholders have stood in adamant opposition to this repeal: These roadless areas are invaluable, irreplaceable, and bring immeasurable benefits to our country—from safeguarding clean drinking water and critical habitats to supporting local outdoor recreation economies and representing sacred Indigenous sites. They deserve to be preserved and protected, not pawned off to destructive industries. That’s why I’m proud to support the Roadless Area Conservation Act and will continue to do everything in my power to protect our environment and conserve our natural resources.”

Act Now SIGN LETTER TO THE SENATE here: Senators: Stand Up For Our Forests! Oppose the harmful Fix Our Forests Act.

We are concerned “about President Trump’s March 1 Executive Orders on timber production. Increasing timber production means cutting down more big, old trees -- the biggest trees will produce the most lumber, yet they are also the most important to leave standing for their climate and wildfire resilience.”

PROTECT NATIONAL PARKS, FULLY FUND AND STAFF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

WATCH SHORT VIDEO: Donald Trump’s new enemy? Our National Parks, Robert Reich, YouTube

“If there’s one thing democratic and republican voters can agree on, it’s how much we love our national parks. But our National Parks are under assault.” Robert Reich

Act Now Oppose Budget and Staffing cuts to the National Park Service here, National Parks Conservation Association Action Alert

Act Now ADD YOUR NAME here: Tell the Department of the Interior to stop erasing history at our national parks and historic sites

Act Now SIGN PETITION here: Erasing history in our Parks: Why Book Bans in National Park Service Gift Shops Threaten Democracy – And make no mistake. This isn’t about souvenirs. It’s about government control and censorship action.everylibrary.org

Statements on action.everylibrary.org:

“In a country that prides itself on freedom of speech and the preservation of history, the recent attempts to remove certain books from National Park Service gift shops is a deeply troubling development.

These actions are not about improving visitor experiences or making room for new titles.

Like censorship anywhere, it is about controlling narratives and silencing inconvenient truths.

The NPS has a two-part mission: to protect America’s natural treasures and to interpret our shared history. That interpretation has always been grounded in facts, even when those facts are uncomfortable. From Civil War battlefields to sites of Indigenous displacement, national parks and historic sites help us grapple with the full scope of our past. When political forces pressure the NPS to strip books that address topics like slavery, civil rights, LGBTQ+ history, or Indigenous perspectives from their shelves, it undermines this mission and distorts the public record.”

National park gift shops move to ban “corrosive” history books Even children’s books are under review for removal, including “What Your Ribbon Skirt Means to Me: Deb Haaland’s Inauguration” by Alexis Bunten, a children’s story book about the first Native American to serve as U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

Act Now Stop the Hanscom Field Expansion

Sign the online petition urging the Governor to stop the expansion.

More information at https://www.stopprivatejetexpansion.org/