Attorney General Becerra Condemns Trump Administration Plan to Exempt Alaska’s Tongass National Forest from Critical Environmental Protections

SACRAMENTO – Attorney General Becerra issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Forest Service’s announcement of a Final Environmental Impact Statement for its plan to exempt Alaska’s Tongass National Forest from the national Roadless Area Conservation Rule (Roadless Rule). 

"Without any legal or rational basis, the Trump Administration has decided to expose millions of acres of vital public lands and wildlife to industry exploitation," said Attorney General Becerra. "These are essential resources in the fight for a cleaner, healthier planet for the next generation. But instead of ramping up federal efforts to mitigate climate change, the Trump Administration appears determined to undermine environmental protections wherever and whenever it sees an opportunity."

The Tongass National Forest is a largely untouched remnant of a vast temperate rainforest that once stretched along the Pacific Coast from Alaska to northern California. The forest has remained relatively undeveloped as a result of the Forest Service’s 2001 Roadless Rule that prohibits the construction or reconstruction of roads and the harvesting of timber in certain areas of National Forests. The Trump Administration’s exemption would transform land management of the Tongass, opening up 9.2 million acres to development and damaging the forest’s capacity to absorb and store carbon dioxide. As a nationally significant carbon sink – a natural reservoir that absorbs carbon dioxide – and home to a number of vulnerable fish and wildlife species, the Tongass is a vital resource that deserves federal protection.

On December 16, 2019, Attorney General Becerra, leading a multistate coalition, filed a comment letter opposing the U.S. Forest Service’s proposal to exempt the Tongass National Forest from the Roadless Rule.