A new proposal from the State of Alaska and the Trump Administration would undermine the Roadless Rule, one of our country’s most important conservation measures. The Roadless Rule protects 58-million acres of inventoried roadless areas from logging and new road construction. The State of Alaska has filed a petition to the US Forest Service that would exempt Alaska’s roadless areas from the Roadless Rule. In response, the Forest Service has initiated a process to review the state’s request. That process endangers much of the old-growth temperate rainforest remaining on Earth.
Exempting Alaska from the Roadless Rule would diminish protections for 9.3-million acres in the Tongass National Forest, including 2.5-million acres of old-growth. The Tongass is America’s largest National Forest. This is a direct attack on the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, and an assault on roadless areas nationwide.
Please tell the Forest Service not to exempt Alaska and the Tongass National Forest from the Roadless Rule.
We awarded a Public Lands Defense Fund grant in June, 2018 to The Wilderness Society to help defend the Roadless Rule. Learn more about the Roadless Rule here; and how our conservation champions are taking action to permanently protect the Rule here.
