Forest Service Rolls Back Protections for Roadless Areas in the Tongass National Forest

In a controversial move, the Trump administration announced today that it is assenting to the State of Alaska’s request to rescind existing conservation rules that prohibit road construction and logging in roadless areas in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska and will attempt to replace those protections with a weaker state-specific rule designed to appease the state's relatively small, yet vocal, timber industry.  

In January, the State of Alaska petitioned Secretary Perdue to initiate a rulemaking process to exempt the Tongass from the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (the Roadless Rule). Today's announcement responds to that petition. 

Former Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO, Jamie Rappaport Clark, issued the following statement:  

“The Trump administration's decision to appease the State of Alaska and walk away from protections for roadless areas and old-growth habitat in the Tongass National Forest is devastating news for Tongass wildlife that rely on intact forests and watersheds like wolves, deer and salmon. The Trump administration has demonstrated yet again that it will not rest until all of America’s treasured public lands and wild spaces are exploited, industrialized, and opened up for more logging, roadbuilding, drilling, and other commercial activities.”