The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published the Roadless Rule in 2001. The Roadless Rule prohibited road construction and timber harvest in inventoried roadless areas, including the Tongass National Forest, protecting over 9 million acres of large, relatively undisturbed landscapes. This action created space for the region’s fish and wildlife for the benefit of the species themselves and human uses such as wildlife viewing, recreation and commercial, sport and subsistence fishing.
In 2018, the USDA accepted a petition from the State of Alaska requesting that the agency exempt the Tongass National Forest from the Roadless Rule. The public response was overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the Roadless Rule in place to protect fish and wildlife values and the region’s socio-economic well-being. The USDA instead deferred to the industrial logging companies and in October 2020 exempted the Tongass National Forest from the Roadless Rule.
On November 23, 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published its proposal to reinstate the Roadless Rule and restore protections to more than nine million acres of inventoried roadless areas on the Tongass National Forest. The agency determined that reinstating the Roadless Rule would help to conserve the world’s largest remaining, intact, old-growth temperate rainforest and support biodiversity and carbon sequestration. The USDA also determined that reinstating the Roadless Rule would support Southeast Alaska communities that depend on the fisheries economy. The public has sixty days – until January 24, 2022 – to comment on the proposed rule.
ALFA requests that fishermen, fishing support businesses, community members and individuals concerned about climate, salmon habitat and biodiversity write in support of reinstating the Roadless Rule. The Roadless Rule protects forests that are a global champion in sequestering carbon, benefitting the entire planet. And the Roadless Rule protects numerous Southeast Alaska watersheds, providing habitat for forest fish harvested by our fishermen. Comments will become part of the public record and affirm broad public support for Roadless Rule protections.
Information on submitting comments can be found at:
Submit Your Roadless Rule Comments to the Forest Service Now! -Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/document/FS-2021-0007-0006
Click Here to read ALFA’s Roadless Rule Fishing Communities Facts