In a huge victory for the climate, the Biden administration is ending large-scale old-growth logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. For years, Earthjustice has fought to defend this temperate rainforest’s massive trees and meandering streams. Read on to learn why this win matters for wildlife, local Indigenous communities, and every human on Earth. This is a victory for public lands that has been decades in the making. A federal law called the Roadless Rule protects about a third of our national forests — including 9 million acres of the Tongass — from damaging new roads and clear-cuts. Earthjustice has been successfully defending this law in court since 2001. In 2020, the Trump administration exempted the Tongass from the Roadless Rule’s protection, opening areas to logging, including centuries-old stands of old-growth trees. Earthjustice filed a federal lawsuit challenging the rollback of protections on behalf of five Alaska Native Tribes, Southeast Alaska small businesses, and conservation organizations. The Biden administration’s actions go beyond restoring protections stripped away by Trump. On July 15, the U.S. Forest Service announced it will undo the Trump-era rollback of the Roadless Rule. The agency also added new protections for the Tongass’ ancient trees, eliminating large-scale old […]
Reading Time: < 1 minute
