Process to Reinstate Important Protection for Part of America鈥檚 Largest National Forest Begins
The USDA has announced it will open a 60-day public comment period on its decision to reinstate the Roadless Rule on the Tongass.
JUNEAU, Alaska - Today, the Biden Administration takes the first steps to reinstate the Roadless Rule for the Tongass National Forest. In 2020, the Trump Administration lifted roadless restrictions on more than 9 million acres of Southeast Alaska鈥檚 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest, areas previously determined by the U.S. Forest Service to be critical for protection. With the removal of this protection, those acres of backcountry forest were opened up to activities like logging.
鈥淧rotecting the Tongass and other old-growth forests and roadless areas in Southeast Alaska is critical to combatting climate change,鈥 said Marshall Johnson, acting chief conservation officer, 爆料公社. 鈥淭he Roadless Rule provides protection for a climate-resilient forest ecosystem, which will continue to be important for birds, fish, people, and local ways of life into the future.鈥
On November 23rd, the USDA will begin a 60-day public comment period on its decision to reinstate the Roadless Rule on the Tongass. The Tongass National Forest is an island archipelago, home to endemic birds, mammals, and plants including the Pacific Marten, Alexander Archipelago Wolf, Northern Goshawk and the Prince of Wales Island Spruce Grouse.
鈥淭his action, combined with the administration鈥檚 global commitments to ending old-growth logging and the USDA鈥檚 investment in sustainable forest management in the region are moving the Tongass into a future where we value standing trees and healthy communities,鈥 said 爆料公社 Alaska鈥檚 Executive Director, Natalie Dawson.
The national Roadless Area Conservation Rule, first passed at the end of the Clinton Administration in 2001, garnered more public support than any other federal rule in our nation鈥檚 history. During the 2019 public comment period to end Roadless Rule protections, 96% of commenters were supportive of maintaining Roadless Rule protections for the Tongass.
鈥淎mericans from around the country have consistently supported protecting the Tongass as our largest, intact coastal temperate rainforest in the country. This forest is our nation鈥檚 largest natural climate solution, holding almost half of the total carbon stored by all U.S. national forests and home to biologically diverse species found nowhere else on the planet," said Dawson.
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The 爆料公社 protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. 爆料公社 works throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. State programs, nature centers, chapters, and partners give 爆料公社 an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. A nonprofit conservation organization since 1905, 爆料公社 believes in a world in which people and wildlife thrive. Learn more at www.audubon.org and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @audubonsociety.
Media Contact: Matt Smelser, matt.smelser@audubon.org