"The U.S. Forest Service rule restricts development on more than nine million acres in North America’s largest temperate rainforest, reversing a Trump decision."
"WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it has banned logging and road-building on about nine million acres of the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska, aiming to settle a two-decade battle over the fate of North America’s largest temperate rainforest.
The new rule reinstates protections in the pristine Alaskan back country that were first imposed in 2001 but stripped away by President Donald J. Trump in 2020.
Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary, said the effort would protect cedar, hemlock and Sitka spruce trees — many of them more than 800 years old — that provide essential habitats for 400 species of wildlife, including bald eagles, salmon and the world’s greatest concentration of black bears. The towering trees also play an essential role in fighting climate change. They store more than 10 percent of the carbon accumulated by all national forests in the United States, according to the government."
Lisa Friedman reports for the New York Times January 25, 2023.
SEE ALSO:
"Biden Bans Logging Roads In Much Of America’s Largest National Forest" (Washington Post)
"US Reinstates Road, Logging Restrictions On Alaska Forest" (AP)
"Biden Admin Seals Protections For Tongass National Forest" (E&E News)
Advertisement 
