Difference between revisions of "Tongass National Forest"

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*Total Acreage – 16.8 million
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*'''Size:''' 16.8 million acres – America's largest national forest, larger than West Virginia.
 
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*'''Protection History:''' Created in 1907 via presidential proclamation by President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1908, the Tongass was combined with the Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve. Additional proclamations were made in 1909 and 1925, bringing the Tongass to its current size.
*Original Protection – September 10, 1907 under Republican Theodore Roosevelt
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*'''Most Recent Development:''' As of October 2020, the U.S. Forest Service has exempted Alaska from the Roadless Rule, stripping over 9 million acres of roadless protections from the Tongass.
 
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*'''Threats:''' A Roadless Rule exemption for the Tongass could re-start wide scale clearcutting of old-growth logging. Additionally, land transfers to private corporations could fragment the forest even further.
*Expanded Protection – July 1, 1908 when combined with the Alexander Archipelago
+
*'''Climate Change:''' When old-growth rainforests like the Tongass are cut down, they release up to two-thirds of their stored carbon to the atmosphere.
 
+
*'''Wildlife:''' The Tongass is home to five species of Pacific Salmon, humpback and orca whales, otters, beavers, wolves, deer, plus some of the largest concentrations of brown bears and bald eagles in America.
*Most Recent Action – September, 2018 when USDA-FS field a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for a state-specific Roadless Rule
 
 
 
*Logging Threats - Roadless Rule rollback and/or exemption for the Tongass; land transfers to private corporations; continued clear-cut old-growth logging
 
 
 
*Climate Change Impacts - Rising temperatures and melting glaciers disrupting salmon runs and other critical habitat
 
 
 
*Wilderness – There are 19 designated wilderness areas within the Tongass, more than in any other national forest
 
 
 
*Wildlife – Five species of Pacific Salmon, humpback and orca whales, otters, beavers, wolves, deer, plus some of the largest concentrations of brown bears and bald eagles in America
 
 
 
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At 17 million acres, the Tongass National Forest is America’s largest national forest, encompassing the majority of the southeast Alaska panhandle. Each year more than 1 million people come to experience glaciers flowing from the mountains into the sea and iconic wildlife that thrives in one of the largest remaining temperate rainforests in the world.
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At 16.8 million acres, the Tongass National Forest is America’s largest national forest, encompassing the majority of the southeast Alaska panhandle. Each year more than 1 million people come to experience glaciers flowing from the mountains into the sea and iconic wildlife that thrives in one of the largest remaining temperate rainforests in the world.
  
Alaska’s national forests were included in the Roadless Rule—with overwhelming support from commenters—expressly because forest wildlands persist in Alaska on a scale unknown elsewhere in the country. In addition to harboring great natural beauty and iconic wildlife, federal scientists found that retaining the intact roadless areas of the Tongass is a “key element” in sustaining the region’s extraordinary salmon runs (and their commercial, subsistence, and recreational fisheries). Unfortunately, through legislation and regulatory rollbacks, the Alaska delegation and the current administration are attempting to remove, modify, and/or exempt roadless protections for the Tongass National Forest.
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Alaska’s national forests were protected under the [https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/EbJoO2W8LytPlDHAhn_zPIcBtRNae2jkOryDgnSSzGVr6Q?e=g5o5qE 2001 Roadless Rule] expressly because forested wildlands persist in Alaska on a scale unknown elsewhere in the country. In addition to harboring great natural beauty and iconic wildlife, scientists believe that retaining the intact roadless areas of the Tongass is a “key element” in sustaining the region’s extraordinary salmon runs (and its commercial, subsistence and recreational fisheries). Unfortunately, through regulatory rollbacks the Trump administration have exempted the Tongass from roadless protections.  
 
At the end of the Obama administration, the USFS approved the Tongass Land Management Plan (TLMP) for slowly moving the Tongass away from taxpayer-subsidized, industrial-scale old-growth logging, long since abandoned elsewhere in the national forest system. Despite strong public support and scientific backing, the Alaska delegation, similar to the Roadless Rule, has been attempting to reverse and weaken protections guaranteed by the TLMP through riders in must-pass legislative vehicles and stand-alone legislation.  
 
  
The only legislation that should be pursued to truly protect the Tongass are those that would codify the Roadless Rule and sustain the TLMP parameters as established in 2016, not weaken or reverse them. Please see below for relevant legislation, talking points, fact sheets, and more on what we're doing to defend the Tongass National Forest.
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The House Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing in November of 2019 focused on the impacts that removing roadless protections in the Tongass would have. In October of 2020, the Trump administration finalized an Alaska state-specific Roadless Rule which gutted protections for the entire Tongass by exempting the entire state of Alaska from the Roadless Rule. This would open more than 9 million acres of roadless areas in the Tongass to roadbuilding activities and clear-cut logging. On day one, the Biden administration ordered a review of this rulemaking process. Please see below for relevant legislation, talking points, fact sheets and more on what we're doing to defend the Tongass National Forest.
  
  
[[#Fact Sheets|Fact Sheets]] | [[#Congressional Letters|Congressional Letters]] | [[#Public Letters|Public Letters]] | [[#Maps|Maps]] | [[#Reports|Reports]]  
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[[#Fact Sheets|Fact Sheets]] | [[#Congressional Letters|Congressional Letters]] | [[#Public Letters|Public Letters]] | [[#Maps|Maps]] | [[##Research & Reports|Research & Reports]]
  
  
 
'''''Recent Legislative Activity'''''
 
'''''Recent Legislative Activity'''''
*'''[https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3333/text S. 3333], Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2018
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*'''[https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/279?r=2&s=1 H.R. 279]/[https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/877 S. 877], [https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/Ec5mQhDojPJKla1wjHzYLhgBrOPEZwIX9G5XAPSIgCn2AA?e=PeQVh4 Roadless Area Conservation Act] (117th Congress)
 
**This bill would provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System.
 
**This bill would provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System.
** To cosponsor: email Bryan Petit (mailto:Bryan_Petit@energy.senate.gov) on Sen. Cantwell's Energy and Natural Resources Committee staff.
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** To cosponsor, email Emma Reidy (mailto:emma.reidy@mail.house.gov) in Representative Gallego's office (D-AZ) or Amit Ronen (mailto:Amit_Ronen@cantwell.senate.gov) in Senator Cantwell's office (D-WA) for the Senate companion.
  
*'''H.R. 2, 2018 Farm Bill'''
 
**[https://www.congress.gov/amendment/115th-congress/house-amendment/598?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22hr+2%22%5D%7D H.Amdt598] from Rep. Young would exempt all National Forests in Alaska from the Roadless Rule.
 
  
*'''[https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1481 S. 1481], Alaska Native Claims Settlement Improvement Act'''  
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'''''Talking Points'''''
**From Senator Murkowski, this bill contains numerous provisions that would circumvent the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) by removing important checks and balances, especially with regard to some of Alaska’s most high quality public lands within the Tongass National Forest and the National Wildlife Refuge System.
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*The Trump administration’s Tongass exemption to the Roadless Rule, issued in the final days of 2020, opens the gates to clear-cutting countless centuries-old trees in the Tongass, with irreversible consequences for salmon fisheries, tribal communities and the forest ecosystem. '''The 2001 Roadless Rule must be reinstated immediately to protect critical forest protections.'''
 +
*'''The Roadless Rule is the result of one of the most extensive public processes''' in U.S. history – more than 1.6 million people submitted comments on the rule, and 95% of those commented favorably on roadless protections.
 +
*'''The Trump administration’s Tongass exemption to the Roadless Rule was flawed from the beginning.''' An overwhelming majority of comments – [https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/tongassblueprint/pages/1960/attachments/original/1590607105/Alaska_Roadless_Rule_-_DEIS_Public_Comment_Report_%28May_2020%29.pdf?1590607105 96%] – favored keeping the 2001 Roadless Rule protections in place. A recently published [https://www.usda.gov/oig/audit-reports/forest-service-grant-roadless-area-management-state-alaska OIG report] clearly states the Forest Service broke the law by illegally agreeing to award $2 million to the state through funds that were supposed to be directed towards wildfire management, all during one of the worst fire seasons in years.
 +
*'''The Tongass is essential to the culture and livelihood of Alaska Native communities who rely on hunting, fishing, and wild harvest as a matter of survival.''' A united group of [https://www.juneauempire.com/news/southeast-tribes-unite-to-oppose-lifting-roadless-rule/#:~:text=The%20six%20tribes%20are%20the,and%20Organized%20Village%20of%20Kasaan. six Southeast Alaska Tribes] supported keeping roadless protections for the Tongass National Forest, and [https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/searac-winter-2020-book.pdf 12 tribal governments] objected to the lack of consultation when the Tongass was exempted from the Roadless Rule in 2020.
 +
*As part of the world's largest temperate rainforest, '''the Tongass stores a huge percent of the world's carbon''' — [https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5252603.pdf 8 percent of all forests in the Lower 48 combined]. In total, [https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2019/11/20/477495/trumps-energy-policies-put-alaska-climate-crosshairs/ the Tongass stores an estimated 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon and sequesters an additional 10 million metric tons annually].  It makes no sense to subsidize the clearcutting of the United States' largest carbon sink at a time when the world and American communities are increasingly suffering from climate change impacts. '''When it comes to battling climate change, the Tongass National Forest is a life raft.'''
 +
*'''The Roadless Rule rollback will ultimately cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.''' Since 1980, the USFS has spent approximately [https://www.taxpayer.net/energy-natural-resources/cutting-our-losses-tongass-timber-2/ $1.961 billion subsidizing timber sales in the Tongass], including road construction. Yet it received only $230 million in proceeds from these sales; this has led to a net loss of $1.7 billion, and an average loss of $44 million annually.
 +
*'''The Tongass is the linchpin of Southeast Alaska’s economy''', attracting people from around the world for world-class recreation, hunting, and sport and commercial salmon fishing. In recent years, visitor industry and seafood-related jobs have accounted for [https://www.seconference.org/sites/default/files/FINAL%20Southeast%20by%20the%20Numbers%202019.pdf 26 percent of jobs] in the region and generated an annual $2 billion economic benefit.
 +
*'''The timber industry presently provides [https://www.seconference.org/sites/default/files/FINAL%20Southeast%20by%20the%20Numbers%202019.pdf less than 1% of jobs] in the Southeast economy and is sustained primarily through federal subsidies.''' Timber used to be a significant employer in Southeast Alaska, but today recreation and fishing support thriving, sustainable business in the Tongass.  
  
*'''[https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1867?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22hr1867%22%5D%7D&r=1 H.R. 1867]/[https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/785?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22s.+785%22%5D%7D&r=1 S. 785], [https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/Ea89j-ZYzENPtWH0RSt2-dsBrBP36D9x2gauBT7NnUID2w?e=OjvKAjAlaska Native Veterans Land Allotment Equity Act]'''
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==<span id="Fact Sheets"></span>Fact Sheets==
**From Rep. Young / Sen. Sullivan, this bill would allow the transfer of nearly half a million acres of public land into private ownership, carving up Alaska’s most valuable public lands and creating thousands of inholdings in national wildlife refuges, wilderness areas and national forests.
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*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/ESZdE8_wNbpCl8t7alUYZdsBiNMsagwaaj1MimNX2zqEdw?e=bdjvvc Roadless Area Conservation Act]
 +
*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/sites/External/AKBriefing/Forms/AllItems.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2FExternal%2FAKBriefing%2FTongass%20Roadless%20Rule%20Factsheet%20Final%2Epdf&parent=%2Fsites%2FExternal%2FAKBriefing The Roadless Rule Protects the Tongass National Forest]
 +
*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/EQWt3jpN_z5GjclWQNm5cecBa2WI4k7fVLR_be-945ogKg?e=hj87m8 What is the Roadless Rule?]
 +
*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/Ef9Ux7KyKlNEoh8vYyBUYNwBjTN2haiElnuCc0x7IN1YyA?e=9R032Y Taxpayers Subsidize the Clear-cut Logging of America’s Rainforest]
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*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/EdAq0FYBg-NMiQA6-ffNjs8BVVjwXgV_CvbhFca8gux73w?e=b4Bgqg Know Your Salmon]
  
'''''Talking Points'''''
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==<span id="Congressional Letters"></span>Congressional Letters==
*Opening up the Tongass National Forest roadless areas to road building and logging would threaten the abundant wildlife and beautiful scenery essential to tourism in Southeast Alaska, an industry that contributes more than $1 billion dollars to the region each year and accounts for 15 percent of the region’s employment.
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*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/sites/External/AKBriefing/Forms/AllItems.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2FExternal%2FAKBriefing%2FLetter%20to%20USDA%20RE%20Alaska%20Roadless%20Rule%20Rulemaking%20Jan%202022%2Epdf&parent=%2Fsites%2FExternal%2FAKBriefing Letter from Senate and House Democrats to Secretary Vilsak on Reinstating Roadless Rule to the Tongass], January 2022
*The Roadless Rule is the result of one of the most extensive public processes in U.S. history – more than 1.6 million people submitted comments on the rule, and 95% of those commented favorably on roadless protections.
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*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/ERhEmGvKZdNFhvVsBqH-NaMBsHCmaDig4NP7Hop9A-FJdw?e=EBUJCS Letter from House and Senate Democrats to Secretary Perdue Opposing  the FEIS for the Tongass Roadless Rule], October 2020
*Southeast Alaska can move forward with the TLMP Amendment. Built on the consensus of Alaskans, the amendment supports prioritizing premiere salmon watersheds and other essential conservation lands, and shifting our priorities to meet the needs of all southeast Alaskans, not just the timber industry.
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*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/EfXlAlU9pgZPqIPJ2DjtScwBeuYrX2JfuWnXuvp0wlJN5g?e=nmGJ2U Letter from Senate Democrats to Secretary Perdue on Environmental Justice and Opposing the DEIS Preferred Alternative for the Tongass Roadless Rule], December 2019
 +
*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/EXlh6nVdJXxFuN8UTMWJns0BwaPwyZ5oCxxVxNhUjx28yg?e=yJ2gbx Letter from House Democrats to Secretary Perdue Opposing the DEIS Preferred Alternative for the Tongass Roadless Rule], December 2019
 +
*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/ERbEXcd5iKVOgTGBij7a0-8BteU51YLaf6Y6AEQAA5AuRw?e=BmZqnP Letter from Senate Democrats to Secretary Perdue Opposing the DEIS Preferred Alternative for the Tongass Roadless Rule], November 2019
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*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/EVusITb7HSVBmY7Ef_D-7MQBzuMfwu7uUGGtrmi37BrPvA?e=NQgFU4 Letter from House Democrats to Secretary Perdue Opposing Roadless Rule Rollbacks in Alaska], October 2018
 +
*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/ERVCKIh9oUFCm3t209ie0TUBaVjms6RQWjGRXn0eDceHvQ?e=h6rMNh Letter from Senate Democrats to Secretary Perdue Opposing Roadless Rule Rollbacks in Alaska], October 2018
  
==<span id="Fact Sheets"></span>Fact Sheets==
 
*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/EdPtQjIYZuZKsB8VHPOVNWgByKI4kESTLqoBtXLWuWDt6w?e=mybHBB TLMP Amendment of 2016]
 
*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/EaVcIBVgGEVMi81espBPM3kBMn9ud4wsv31r92f5mM_huw?e=z22c1v Millions of Acres at Risk in the Tongass]
 
 
 
==<span id="Public Letters"></span>Public Letters==  
 
==<span id="Public Letters"></span>Public Letters==  
*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/Eb37ZbUs76dIql-hmSWQ0nkB882r32S4dC9eQACS_dfSIg?e=kxUHlr Environmental Community Opposition Letter to Alaska Native Claims Settlement Improvement Act (S. 1481)] January 2018
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*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/Ebt6g5XnnjFHjU4PNs3rjEEBs6C57KsJSIYbRw8MjCKBnA?e=qbCeuI Environmental Community Opposition Letter to USFS on Alaska State Specific Roadless Rule], October 2018
*[http://www.americansalmonforest.org/public-lands-sign-on-supporters.html Letter from Business Owners, Guides, Outfitters, Hunters and Anglers Supporting Tongass 77]  
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*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/EeKWnlVQR99OvussGPYqMj8BDwpqg0GAuEQjW0Mly4W74w?e=eC0IJh Letter from Scientists to the USFS Supporting Roadless Rule Protection in the Tongass], September 2018
*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/ESciLiSi-p1OhrROxePzg-sBfxlbWNxNLqhytDS15bbOHg?e=fUUZ5N Environmental Community Opposition Letter to Alaska Native Veterans Land Allotment Equity Act (S. 785)], July 2017
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*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/Eb37ZbUs76dIql-hmSWQ0nkB882r32S4dC9eQACS_dfSIg?e=kxUHlr Environmental Community Opposition Letter to Alaska Native Claims Settlement Improvement Act (S. 1481)], January 2018
  
 
==<span id="Maps"></span>Maps==  
 
==<span id="Maps"></span>Maps==  
 +
*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/External/EdU7wR29hQ5OoNLvKv8NVNUBrz2lfdPl0wFXOJO-IZKTYw?e=MdAOH3 Tongass National Forest Roadless Areas]
 
*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:i:/s/External/EVKj8ops7ZlBmkpfXQ0WNv0B7dDv_WffCEXuKZczbOJVrg?e=m4p8Pf The Tongass 77 Priority Salmon Watersheds]
 
*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:i:/s/External/EVKj8ops7ZlBmkpfXQ0WNv0B7dDv_WffCEXuKZczbOJVrg?e=m4p8Pf The Tongass 77 Priority Salmon Watersheds]
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*[https://alaskawildernessleague.sharepoint.com/:i:/s/External/EcqZcv6LeKtBl2fGhq7HoDQBgFaOj5VMNQU878-TeJFQ3Q?e=MeU3Pg National Forests of Alaska - USFS]
==<span id="Reports"></span>Reports==
+
 
*[https://headwaterseconomics.org/economic-development/local-studies/tongass/ The Tongass Transition Framework: A New Path Forward? - Headwaters Economics] December, 2014
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==<span id="Research & Reports"></span>Research & Reports==
 +
*[https://www.taxpayer.net/energy-natural-resources/cutting-our-losses-tongass-timber-2/ Cutting Our Losses after 40 Years of Money-Losing Timber Sales in the Tongass - Taxpayers for Common Sense], September 2020
 +
*[https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2019/11/20/477495/trumps-energy-policies-put-alaska-climate-crosshairs/ Trump’s Energy Policies Put Alaska in the Climate Crosshairs - Center for American Progress], November 2019
 +
*[https://www.taxpayer.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/TCS-Cutting-Our-Losses-2019-.pdf Cutting Our Losses: 20 Years of Money-Losing Timber Sales in the Tongass - Taxpayers for Common Sense], October 2019

Latest revision as of 13:31, 4 February 2022

Sitka waterfall 6173285451 small.jpg
KEY FACTS
  • Size: 16.8 million acres – America's largest national forest, larger than West Virginia.
  • Protection History: Created in 1907 via presidential proclamation by President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1908, the Tongass was combined with the Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve. Additional proclamations were made in 1909 and 1925, bringing the Tongass to its current size.
  • Most Recent Development: As of October 2020, the U.S. Forest Service has exempted Alaska from the Roadless Rule, stripping over 9 million acres of roadless protections from the Tongass.
  • Threats: A Roadless Rule exemption for the Tongass could re-start wide scale clearcutting of old-growth logging. Additionally, land transfers to private corporations could fragment the forest even further.
  • Climate Change: When old-growth rainforests like the Tongass are cut down, they release up to two-thirds of their stored carbon to the atmosphere.
  • Wildlife: The Tongass is home to five species of Pacific Salmon, humpback and orca whales, otters, beavers, wolves, deer, plus some of the largest concentrations of brown bears and bald eagles in America.

At 16.8 million acres, the Tongass National Forest is America’s largest national forest, encompassing the majority of the southeast Alaska panhandle. Each year more than 1 million people come to experience glaciers flowing from the mountains into the sea and iconic wildlife that thrives in one of the largest remaining temperate rainforests in the world.

Alaska’s national forests were protected under the 2001 Roadless Rule expressly because forested wildlands persist in Alaska on a scale unknown elsewhere in the country. In addition to harboring great natural beauty and iconic wildlife, scientists believe that retaining the intact roadless areas of the Tongass is a “key element” in sustaining the region’s extraordinary salmon runs (and its commercial, subsistence and recreational fisheries). Unfortunately, through regulatory rollbacks the Trump administration have exempted the Tongass from roadless protections.

The House Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing in November of 2019 focused on the impacts that removing roadless protections in the Tongass would have. In October of 2020, the Trump administration finalized an Alaska state-specific Roadless Rule which gutted protections for the entire Tongass by exempting the entire state of Alaska from the Roadless Rule. This would open more than 9 million acres of roadless areas in the Tongass to roadbuilding activities and clear-cut logging. On day one, the Biden administration ordered a review of this rulemaking process. Please see below for relevant legislation, talking points, fact sheets and more on what we're doing to defend the Tongass National Forest.


Fact Sheets | Congressional Letters | Public Letters | Maps | Research & Reports


Recent Legislative Activity


Talking Points

  • The Trump administration’s Tongass exemption to the Roadless Rule, issued in the final days of 2020, opens the gates to clear-cutting countless centuries-old trees in the Tongass, with irreversible consequences for salmon fisheries, tribal communities and the forest ecosystem. The 2001 Roadless Rule must be reinstated immediately to protect critical forest protections.
  • The Roadless Rule is the result of one of the most extensive public processes in U.S. history – more than 1.6 million people submitted comments on the rule, and 95% of those commented favorably on roadless protections.
  • The Trump administration’s Tongass exemption to the Roadless Rule was flawed from the beginning. An overwhelming majority of comments – 96% – favored keeping the 2001 Roadless Rule protections in place. A recently published OIG report clearly states the Forest Service broke the law by illegally agreeing to award $2 million to the state through funds that were supposed to be directed towards wildfire management, all during one of the worst fire seasons in years.
  • The Tongass is essential to the culture and livelihood of Alaska Native communities who rely on hunting, fishing, and wild harvest as a matter of survival. A united group of six Southeast Alaska Tribes supported keeping roadless protections for the Tongass National Forest, and 12 tribal governments objected to the lack of consultation when the Tongass was exempted from the Roadless Rule in 2020.
  • As part of the world's largest temperate rainforest, the Tongass stores a huge percent of the world's carbon8 percent of all forests in the Lower 48 combined. In total, the Tongass stores an estimated 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon and sequesters an additional 10 million metric tons annually. It makes no sense to subsidize the clearcutting of the United States' largest carbon sink at a time when the world and American communities are increasingly suffering from climate change impacts. When it comes to battling climate change, the Tongass National Forest is a life raft.
  • The Roadless Rule rollback will ultimately cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Since 1980, the USFS has spent approximately $1.961 billion subsidizing timber sales in the Tongass, including road construction. Yet it received only $230 million in proceeds from these sales; this has led to a net loss of $1.7 billion, and an average loss of $44 million annually.
  • The Tongass is the linchpin of Southeast Alaska’s economy, attracting people from around the world for world-class recreation, hunting, and sport and commercial salmon fishing. In recent years, visitor industry and seafood-related jobs have accounted for 26 percent of jobs in the region and generated an annual $2 billion economic benefit.
  • The timber industry presently provides less than 1% of jobs in the Southeast economy and is sustained primarily through federal subsidies. Timber used to be a significant employer in Southeast Alaska, but today recreation and fishing support thriving, sustainable business in the Tongass.

Fact Sheets

Congressional Letters

Public Letters

Maps

Research & Reports