Senators Snowe and Collins did it again. They stood strong to protect the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.

We applaud Snowe and Collins for voting to protect citizens’ ability to file effective legal challenges to harmful old-growth logging projects in the Tongass.

In a classic move of backroom dealings, Sen. Stevens, R-Alaska, snuck an anti-environmental rider on the fiscal year 2004 Appropriations bill for the Interior.

The Stevens rider is crafted to hamper efforts to protect Alaska’s Tongass Rainforest, the largest contiguous temperate rainforest in the United States, by making it more difficult for citizens to challenge harmful logging projects in court and by limiting the length of time a judge could consider cases challenging such projects.

Although we are disappointed by the outcome, Snowe and Collins took an important stand for the Tongass National Forest, a true wilderness gem and the public interest when they voted against this harmful rider.

Matthew Davis, U.S. PIRG,

Portland