Alaskan Senators Praise Federal Decision to Allow Logging in Tongass, Progressives Oppose

Visitors look at wildlife through binoculars in the Tongass National Forest on July 13, 2007. Photo courtesy of the US Forest Service; Tongass National Forest photo library

While Alaskan Senators praised the recent announcement from the Trump administration Wednesday to lift restrictions on logging and building roads in the country’s largest national forest, progressives described the decision as dangerous for the climate.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it has decided to exempt the Tongass National Forest from the 2001 “Roadless Rule,” which prohibits road construction, and cutting, selling, or removing trees within roadless areas, with certain exceptions. The Roadless Rule applies to more than 45 million acres of national forests and grasslands throughout the United States.