"The Trump administration Tuesday proposed allowing logging on more than half of Alaska’s 16.7 million-acre Tongass National Forest, the largest intact temperate rainforest in North America.
President Trump instructed federal officials to reverse long-standing limits on tree cutting at the request of Alaska’s top elected officials, on the grounds that it will boost the local economy. But critics say that protections under the “roadless rule,” finalized just before President Bill Clinton left office in 2001, are critical to protecting the region’s lucrative salmon fishery and tourism operations.
The U.S. Forest Service said it would publish a draft environmental impact statement this week that, if enacted, would exempt the Tongass from the 2001 roadless rule."
Juliet Eilperin reports for the Washington Post October 15, 2019.
SEE ALSO:
"Forest Service Backs an End to Limits on Roads in Alaska’s Tongass Forest" (New York Times)
"Trump Admin To Scrap Logging Limits In Alaska's Tongass" (E&E News PM)
"U.S. Proposal Would Lift Logging Ban In Pristine Alaska Forest" (Reuters)
