A sign marks the road entrance to the Mendenhall Glacier area of the Tongass National Forest. The Biden administration on Wednesday announced the Roadless Rule preventing logging and roads in about nine million acres of the 16.7-million-acre forest has been reinstated after former President Donald Trump repealed it in 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file)

A sign marks the road entrance to the Mendenhall Glacier area of the Tongass National Forest. The Biden administration on Wednesday announced the Roadless Rule preventing logging and roads in about nine million acres of the 16.7-million-acre forest has been reinstated after former President Donald Trump repealed it in 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file)

Biden administration reinstates Tongass Roadless Rule

Miners and timber interests upset, environmentalists thrilled, Sen. Sullivan vows retaliation

This article has been updated to include additional information.

The so-called Roadless Rule banning logging and road-building on more than nine million acres in the Tongass National Forest has been formally reinstated, the Biden administration announced Wednesday.

The announcement, overturning a 2020 policy by former President Donald Trump opening the forest area to development, thrilled local environmental groups and incensed statewide Republican leaders, including U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan who vowed to retaliate by blocking President Joe Biden’s nominees.

At 16.7-million acres the Tongass National Forest is the world’s largest intact tract of coastal temperate rainforest, making it critical for carbon sequestration and carbon storage to help mitigate climate change, the U.S. Forest Service stated in a news release announcing the reinstatement.

“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,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a prepared statement.

The reinstatement is the latest development in more than two decades of battles over the Roadless Rule protections initially enacted in 2001 under a policy initiated by former President Bill Clinton. Those skirmishes have generally pitted conservative politicians against conservationists.

However, U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat elected to Alaska’s lone House seat last year, issued a statement Wednesday expressing concern about the decision.

“I remain concerned about the reimposition of the Roadless Rule for the Tongass National Forest area because I firmly believe that impacted Alaskan communities should determine how to use their land,” she said. “This rule could leave communities in the designated roadless area with even fewer options for economic activity and development, including crucial renewable energy projects that can’t be built or connected to local grids because of these regulations. We should be updating our regulations to account for the present and future needs of Southeast Alaska.”

Sullivan, who on Tuesday issued a Facebook “update” attacking the Biden’s administration for a multitude of policies the senator characterized as federal overreach, added the reinstatement of the Roadless Rule to that list in a prepared statement Wednesday.

“I’ve implored Secretary Vilsack repeatedly to work with us and to not lock up our state,” he said. “My message to hard-working Alaskans who are being crushed and utterly disregarded by this administration: I will fight this decision with everything in my power, including through my Senate oversight responsibilities and by holding relevant nominees wherever possible.”

Alaska’s other U.S. senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski, also denounced the reinstatement in a prepared statement.

“The Roadless Rule should never have applied to the Tongass, and the Biden administration’s decision to reinstate it is federal paternalism at its worst,” she said. “Roughly 80 percent of the Tongass is already protected through existing law, land use designations, and the forest planning process, and 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.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy who, while initiating an effort to stabilize the state’s long-term finances via carbon offsets that include leaving forests unharvested, stated the Roadless Rule and Tongass aren’t the places for that to occur.

“This ruling is a huge loss for Alaskans,” Dunleavy said in a statement posted on his official social media accounts. “Alaskans deserve access to the resources that the Tongass provides — jobs, renewable energy resources and tourism, not a government plan that treats human beings within a working forest like an invasive species.”

Among the numerous people expressing support for the reinstatement was Joel Jackson, president of the Organized Village of Kake, in a news release issued by the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council quoting a large number of Alaska Native, environmental and other officials favoring the decision.

“The Tongass Roadless Rule is important to everyone,” Jackson said. “The old-growth timber is a carbon sink, one of the best in the world. It’s important to our way of life — the streams, salmon, deer, and all the forest animals and plants.”

Also quoted in SEACC’s release is Linda Behnken, a commercial fisher and executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association.

“We are thrilled and relieved to know the Tongass’ remaining unroaded areas will remain intact vibrant forests for generations to come,” she said. “Our fisheries depend on healthy habitat, and with climate change driving ocean warming, protecting habitat is increasingly important to the fish, the fisheries, and the coastal fishing communities. This is welcome news.”

Jim Clark, a Juneau attorney opposed to Roadless Rule protections for the Tongass, told The New York Times on Wednesday he has emphasized to Biden administration officials the economic benefits of some road construction are critical and can be achieved without harming the ecology.

Among other regional officials concerned about Roadless Rule restrictions is Tessa Axelson, executive director of the Alaska Forest Association, who told the Southeast Conference at its annual meeting in Ketchikan last year the timber industry — which has seen the number of jobs in the region decline from about 3,500 in 1991 to 300 last year — is facing the threat of climate-related disease affecting trees in the Tongass National Forest in addition to barriers the reinstatement of the Roadless Rule will cause.

Also, Deantha Skibinski, executive director of the Alaska Miners Association, said during the same conference that regional industry leaders are trying to convince federal officials to conduct their first mineral vales study in the region since 1991 to better focus future projects. The United States Geological Survey in 2008 found 148 mineral deposits in the region, but Skibinski and other state officials say an updated study will more accurately show the economic potential of the region.

• Contact reporter Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast for the week of March 18

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

A board in the House Chambers at the Alaska State Capitol shows Monday’s vote tally of 39-20 to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of Senate Bill 140, one vote short of the two-thirds necessary. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Legislature fails by a single vote of 39-20 to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of education bill

Legislators warn bad blood may hamper other issues as numerous Republicans abandon earlier support.

With COVID-19 aid, more schools gave students and families experiencing homelessness prepaid cards to buy necessities like groceries and gas. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
Grocery cards and car repairs: How COVID aid changed the way schools can help homeless kids

Juneau student services specialist among those finding creative ways to provide assistance.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Saturay, March 16, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Friday, March 15, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy discusses his veto of a wide-ranging education bill during a press conference Friday at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Veto override vote on education bill expected to have consequences — and no assurance of extra funds

Retaliation by governor, fractured relationships within Legislature on other issues among concerns.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Thursday, March 14, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Kaskanak Creek in the Bristol Bay’s Kvichak watershed is seen from the air on Sept. 27, 2011. Threats to the watershed and other sites were cited by the Environmental Protection Agency when it issued a decision barring permitting of the Pebble mine. But the Dunleavy administration and Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. have taken legal action to try to reverse that decision. (Photo provided by Environmental Protection Agency
State lawsuit claims federal government owes Alaska $700 billion for quashing Pebble mine

The federal government owes Alaska more than $700 billion in compensation for… Continue reading

Tongass National Forest (Photo by U.S. Forest Service)
New Department of Interior opinion promises to recognize expanded tribal jurisdiction in Alaska

Tribes can exert jurisdiction over allotments granted to individual Natives, opinion states.

Most Read