Tongass National Forest

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

• H.R. 279/S. 877, Roadless Area Conservation Act (117th Congress)
  • This bill would provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System.
  • 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.

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 carbon — 8 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

• Roadless Area Conservation Act
• The Roadless Rule Protects the Tongass National Forest
• What is the Roadless Rule?
• Taxpayers Subsidize the Clear-cut Logging of America’s Rainforest
• Know Your Salmon

Congressional Letters

• Letter from Senate and House Democrats to Secretary Vilsak on Reinstating Roadless Rule to the Tongass, January 2022
• Letter from House and Senate Democrats to Secretary Perdue Opposing the FEIS for the Tongass Roadless Rule, October 2020
• Letter from Senate Democrats to Secretary Perdue on Environmental Justice and Opposing the DEIS Preferred Alternative for the Tongass Roadless Rule, December 2019
• Letter from House Democrats to Secretary Perdue Opposing the DEIS Preferred Alternative for the Tongass Roadless Rule, December 2019
• Letter from Senate Democrats to Secretary Perdue Opposing the DEIS Preferred Alternative for the Tongass Roadless Rule, November 2019
• Letter from House Democrats to Secretary Perdue Opposing Roadless Rule Rollbacks in Alaska, October 2018
• Letter from Senate Democrats to Secretary Perdue Opposing Roadless Rule Rollbacks in Alaska, October 2018

Public Letters

• Environmental Community Opposition Letter to USFS on Alaska State Specific Roadless Rule, October 2018
• Letter from Scientists to the USFS Supporting Roadless Rule Protection in the Tongass, September 2018
• Environmental Community Opposition Letter to Alaska Native Claims Settlement Improvement Act (S. 1481), January 2018

Maps

• Tongass National Forest Roadless Areas
• The Tongass 77 Priority Salmon Watersheds
• National Forests of Alaska - USFS

Research & Reports

• Cutting Our Losses after 40 Years of Money-Losing Timber Sales in the Tongass - Taxpayers for Common Sense, September 2020
• Trump’s Energy Policies Put Alaska in the Climate Crosshairs - Center for American Progress, November 2019
• Cutting Our Losses: 20 Years of Money-Losing Timber Sales in the Tongass - Taxpayers for Common Sense, October 2019