The Tongass: America’s Climate Forest Is Again at Risk

At almost 17 million acres, the Tongass National Forest is greater than the most important nationwide forest within the nation—it is also the most important intact temperate rainforest on this planet. It spans Southeast Alaska’s islands, fjords, waterways, and mountains, and is the ancestral homeland of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples. What’s extra, this old-growth forest performs an vital function in addressing local weather change, however its skill to proceed serving that function is now again at risk.

For greater than 20 years, the Roadless Rule has protected a lot of our final remaining wild nationwide forests, usually prohibiting new highway development and business timber harvesting in inventoried roadless areas whereas permitting for lively administration to mitigate fireplace threat, guarantee group security, and keep wholesome habitat.

However the U.S. Forest Service launched a proposal to repeal this long-standing coverage, which might take away protections for 44 million acres of undeveloped forestland—or round a 3rd of our Nationwide Forest System. The largest concentration of roadless areas is within the Tongass. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed Rule had been printed on August 20, 2026, which kicked off a 30-day remark interval that ends Sept. 21, 2026.

The Tongass is a world stronghold for birds. It helps roughly 350 hen species, together with about 40% of all hen species present in North America. The forest accommodates the world’s highest density of nesting Marbled Murrelets and Bald Eagles, whereas lots of of hundreds of migrating shorebirds cease right here every spring earlier than persevering with north to Arctic breeding grounds. Distinctive subspecies—together with the Queen Charlotte Goshawk and Prince of Wales Spruce Grouse—rely on the mature and old-growth forests that make the Tongass particular.

The Tongass is usually known as America’s Local weather Forest. With a rare capability to retailer and sequester carbon, it has earned nicknames like “Lungs of North America” and “America’s Amazon.”

Former Audubon Alaska senior scientist Dr. John Schoen says that “The Tongass holds greater than 20% of all carbon saved in nationwide forests within the U.S., and the most important bushes retailer extra above-ground carbon than different forests.” In line with the U.S. Forest Service, the Tongass accommodates an estimated 70 tons of aboveground carbon per acre, making its mature forests an vital long-term carbon retailer.

For its greater than 400 species of fish and wildlife, the Tongass is exceptional not just because it’s massive, however as a result of it stays complete.

Schoen describes the Tongass as “an entire ecosystem.” Based mostly on his experience, “The Tongass represents the one public lands left in the USA, if not the world, that also has intact watersheds” that embrace the complete range of old-growth forests and “all their ecological elements.” That intactness permits pure relationships to flourish—salmon feed bears, bears transport these vitamins into the forest, and historical bushes stabilize streams that help future generations of fish and wildlife.

The Tongass’s wholesome waterways maintain a few of the world’s most efficient wild salmon runs, supporting subsistence harvests and business and sport fishing, in addition to the companies and communities that rely on them. Salmon contribute roughly $1 billion yearly to the Southeast Alaska economic system. Tourism and recreation add considerably extra, making the Tongass central to a regional economic system constructed round its pure assets. What’s extra, the seafood and tourism industries account for roughly one-quarter of Southeast Alaska’s labor drive.

The Tongass is at the moment managed beneath the Tongass Land and Useful resource Administration Plan, a long-term blueprint authorized in 1997 and amended in 2008 and 2016 to assist information selections about conservation, recreation, restoration, and timber administration throughout the forest. This land administration plan can also be at the moment beneath revision, and there will likely be a possibility for the general public to remark in early 2027.

For now, we can’t afford to lose Roadless Rule protections for the Tongass and throughout our Nationwide Forests. Act now by becoming a member of us in urging the Forest Service to uphold protections for roadless areas earlier than the September 21 deadline.