PROTECTING
Bears and salmon – not to mention birds – are critical components of the massive Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. President Joe Biden’s administration recently reinstituted protection for the Tongass via the Roadless Rule from logging and other interests. (DON MACDOUGALL/USFS)
WILD ALASKA
POTUS RESTORES TONGASS NF PROTECTIONS T
he Tongass National Forest’s pristine territory has become caught in the middle of America’s divisive political landscape - think a heated custody battle during messy divorce proceedings. The country’s two most recent presidential administrations have considered the Tongass from vastly different perspectives. The Southeast Alaska location represents the nation’s largest such national forest, and the
Roadless Rule had for years offered protection from logging interests. But in the waning days of Donald Trump’s presidency, his administration excluded the Tongass from the rule. In late spring, President Joe Biden announced plans to overturn that decision (the official announcement came on July 15). The plan would offer protection to around 9.2 million acres of Tongass land. Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt
Conservation Partnership, called the about-face a “major step toward restoring conservation safeguards and shifting to more sustainable forest management practices on the Tongass National Forest.” “We appreciate this leadership by USDA, and look forward to the timely reinstatement of the Roadless Rule on the Tongass, which will conserve some of Alaska’s most productive fish and wildlife habitat while also allowing for
aksportingjournal.com | SEPTEMBER 2021
ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL
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