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Biden administration finalizes protections for Tongass National Forest in Alaska

Image of the Carrol Inlet in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska on August 9, 2018. The Biden administration reinstated protections for the forest on Thursday. File Photo by Brock Martin/U.S. Forest Service
1 of 3 | Image of the Carrol Inlet in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska on August 9, 2018. The Biden administration reinstated protections for the forest on Thursday. File Photo by Brock Martin/U.S. Forest Service

Jan. 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday finalized a rule restoring protections to the 16.7 million acre Tongass National Forest in Alaska.

The new rule will repeal the 2020 Alaska Roadless Rule, implemented by former President Donald Trump, and revert back to a 2001 version of the rule which prohibited road construction, reconstruction and timber harvest in inventoried roadless areas.

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"As our nation's largest national forest and the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, the Tongass National Forest is key to conserving biodiversity and addressing the climate crisis," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.

Inventoried roadless areas are portions of U.S. Forest Service lands that currently do not have roads and could be designated as conservation sites.

Biden said last July that the White House was in the works of restoring restrictions on the land to mitigate climate change. Trump stripped the "roadless" rule for the forest in a 2020 order, which opened up the land to logging and other businesses.

The Agriculture Department said the U.S. Forest Service received about 112,000 public comment documents, most of which favored restoring the roadless protections in addition to consulting with Southeast Alaska Tribal Nations on the issue.

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"Restoring roadless protections listens to the voices of Tribal Nations and the people of Southeast Alaska while recognizing the importance of fishing and tourism to the region's economy," Vilsack said.

Government officials also said that Tongass is important for carbon sequestration and carbon storage to help mitigate climate change. U.S. forests absorb enough carbon dioxide that is equivalent to more than 10% of U.S. annual greenhouse gas emissions.

"Protecting the Tongass will support watershed protection, climate benefits, and ecosystem health and protect areas important for jobs and community well-being -- and it is directly responsive to input from Tribal Nations," USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Homer Wilkes said.

Both of Alaska's Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, railed against the decision Thursday in a joint statement.

"The Biden administration's decision to reinstate [the Roadless Rule] is federal paternalism at its worst," Murkowski said Sullivan said. "Roughly 80% of the Tongass is already protected through existing law, land use designations, and the forest planning process.

"There is no threat of large-scale development from timber harvesting or any other activity. With this decision, the Biden administration is turning the Tongass into a political football, where access changes with each new President and creates whiplash for those who might want to invest or build in Southeast Alaska."

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