US says will restore protections for Alaska's Tongass forest

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday said it would propose to restore environmental protections to the largest US national forest, the Tongass in Alaska.
The move is the latest effort to roll back a land use decision made under former President Donald Trump. It reflects Biden's growing emphasis on conservation over commercial development. Last month, the administration had indicated that it would seek to reverse the Trump policy.
In a statement, the US Department of Agriculture said it would move to restore the Clinton-era Roadless Rule protections to the Tongass, conserving 9.3 million acres of the world's largest temperate old growth rainforest.
The 2001 rule banned logging, roads and mining in undeveloped forests. Alaska state officials had petitioned the Trump administration for the change because they said the rule has cost Alaskans jobs.
The agency also said it would end large-scale old growth timber sales in the Tongass and focus resources on forest restoration, resilience and recreation.
At the same time, it said it would invest up to $25 million in the Southeast Alaska region to support economic opportunities and workforce development in industries such as fishing, recreation and renewable energy.
Environmental group, The Alaska Wilderness League, cheered the decision, saying the Tongass was critical to storing carbon and combating climate change.