Religious Leaders Urge Protection of National Forests' Roadless Areas

A letter from a broad coalition of religious leaders and faith-based organizations addressed to President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, urging the U.S. government to implement a strong policy to protect roadless areas in national forests.

• Religious leaders are calling for a national forest roadless policy that protects areas of 1,000 acres or more from specific damaging activities, including mining, logging, and road building.
• The signatories argue that roadless areas provide critical ecological benefits, specifically the protection of water supplies and essential habitats for endangered species.
• The authors frame the protection of forests as a 'holy obligation' based on Scriptural interpretations that the Earth belongs to God and humans are merely tenants responsible for its care.
• The document asserts that untouched forests serve as a reflection of the divine and act as a 'temple' for worship and the observation of God's creativity.
• The coalition urges the Administration to maintain an open public process and to integrate both secular and religious perspectives into the final roadless policy for all national forests.

APA

Owens, O. D., Alexander, A., Hanson, A., Hanson, C., Radcliff, D. R., Jacobs, M. X., Saperstein, D., Mulligan, J. T., Benzel, C. R., Swennerfelt, R., Hammond, P. G., Byler, J. D., Andrews, D., Bower, S. H., Ivory, E. G., Paarlberg, J. D., Krueger, F. W., Aeschliman, G., McCollough, C., ... Artaza-Regan, P. (1999). Religious Leaders Urge Protection of National Forests' Roadless Areas. Earthjustice. https://earthjustice.org/press/1999/religious-leaders-urge-protection-of-national-forests-roadless-areas

Chicago

Owens, Owen D., Ann Alexander, Amy Hanson, Connie Hanson, David R. Radcliff, Mark X. Jacobs, David Saperstein, et al. Religious Leaders Urge Protection of National Forests' Roadless Areas. Earthjustice, 1999. https://earthjustice.org/press/1999/religious-leaders-urge-protection-of-national-forests-roadless-areas.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Owens |first1=Owen D. |last2=Alexander |first2=Ann |last3=Hanson |first3=Amy |last4=Hanson |first4=Connie |last5=Radcliff |first5=David R. |last6=Jacobs |first6=Mark X. |last7=Saperstein |first7=David |last8=Mulligan |first8=James T. |last9=Benzel |first9=Cliff R. |display-authors=etal |title=Religious Leaders Urge Protection of National Forests' Roadless Areas |publisher=Earthjustice |date=29 June 1999 |url=https://earthjustice.org/press/1999/religious-leaders-urge-protection-of-national-forests-roadless-areas |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{owens1999religious, author = {Owens, Owen D. and Alexander, Ann and Hanson, Amy and Hanson, Connie and Radcliff, David R. and Jacobs, Mark X. and Saperstein, David and Mulligan, James T. and Benzel, Cliff R. and Swennerfelt, Ruah and Hammond, Paulette G. and Byler, J. Daryl and Andrews, David and Bower, Susan Hope and Ivory, Elenora G. and Paarlberg, John D. and Krueger, Frederick W. and Aeschliman, Gordon and McCollough, Charles and Hunt, Douglas B. and Fassett, Thom White Wolf and Hanson, Jaydee and Artaza-Regan, Paz}, title = {{Religious Leaders Urge Protection of National Forests' Roadless Areas}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {1999}, month = jun, url = {https://earthjustice.org/press/1999/religious-leaders-urge-protection-of-national-forests-roadless-areas}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }