Tongass National Forest

KEY FACTS

Total Acreage – 16.8 million Original Protection – September 10, 1907 under Republican Theodore Roosevelt Expanded Protection – July 1, 1908 when combined with the Alexander Archipelago 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.

At 17 million acres – roughly the size of West Virginia – the Tongass National Forest is America’s largest national forest, encompassing the majority of the southeast Alaska panhandle.

Rising from the deep, rich waters of Alaska’s Inside Passage, the Tongass is where people come to see Alaska. 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.

Decades of clear-cutting has cost the Tongass portions of its best habitat, and yet the forest still contains some of the most intact expanses of temperate rainforest remaining in the world. The region’s economy has largely transitioned away from timber and towards diverse and sustainable industries where wildlife and wild salmon in a scenic and healthy forest employ thousands of Alaskans in recreation, tourism and commercial fishing.

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Recent Legislative Activity

• S. 3333, Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2018
  • 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.

• H.R. 2, 2018 Farm Bill
  • H.Amdt598 from Rep. Young would exempt all National Forests in Alaska from the Roadless Rule.

• S. 1481, Alaska Native Claims Settlement Improvement Act
  • 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.

• H.R. 1867/S. 785, Alaska Native Veterans Land Allotment Equity Act
  • 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.

• H.R. 2936, Resilient Federal Forests Act
  • From Rep. Westerman (R-AR-4), this bill would severely undermine the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and public processes environmental review and incentivizes logging, threatening the Tongass and other national forests.

Talking Points