JUNEAU, Alaska — The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to exempt the country’s largest national forest from a ban on timber harvests and road building in roadless areas, a move conservation groups denounced Thursday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, under which the Forest Service falls, announced Thursday the upcoming release of a final environmental review identifying a preferred alternative to exempt the Tongass National Forest from the so-called Roadless Rule. Once the review is released, at least 30 days must pass before a final decision is made.
The Tongass, which covers more than 25,000 square miles in southeast Alaska, is one of the largest, relatively intact temperate rain forests in the world, and a majority of the Tongass is in a natural condition, “unlike most other national forests,” the Forest Service has said.
The state in 2018, under then-Gov. Bill Walker, asked the federal government to consider the exemption and members of Alaska’s congressional delegation last fall lauded a draft proposal that listed an exemption as a preferred alternative.