Trump dumps protections for Alaska's Tongass forest, 'America's last climate sanctuary'


One of the world's largest intact temperate rainforests — and the largest natural forest in the U.S. — is now open for deforestation.
The Trump administration has lifted longstanding protections guarding Alaska's Tongass National Rainforest, a notice posted Wednesday on the federal register reveals. The entire 16.7 million-acre forest will now be open for logging, road building, and other forms of development, The Washington Post reports.
Tongass is home to 9.3 million acres of pure forest, including old-growth timber that helps sink the continental U.S.'s carbon emissions. "While tropical rainforests are the lungs of the planet, the Tongass is the lungs of North America,” Dominick DellaSala, chief scientist with the Earth Island Institute's Wild Heritage project, told the Post. "It's America's last climate sanctuary." Rare species of deer and bears, as well as salmon, trout, and birds, also roam the Tongass.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A rule enacted by former President Bill Clinton in 2001 blocked roads and development in Tongass and national forests across the U.S. Alaska Republicans have recently sought to exempt Tongass from those protections to develop southeastern Alaska, and seemingly won Trump over amid the coronavirus pandemic that tanked the economy. Robert Venables, who runs an economic development group in southeast Alaska, acknowledged the summer's economic shortcomings amid a decimated tourism season. But he told the Post this decision went too far to promote more economic activity.
Pretty much all of the comments on the U.S. Forest Service’s environmental review of lifting the Tongass protections opposed the move. All five Alaska Native tribal nations also withdrew from working as cooperating agencies on the project after the Forest Service revealed its plans, saying the process "disregarded our input at every turn." Read more at The Washington Post.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 20, 2025
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - Pam Bondi, retirement planning, and more
By The Week US
-
5 heavy-handed cartoons about ICE and deportation
Cartoons Artists take on international students, the Supreme Court, and more
By The Week US
-
Exploring the three great gardens of Japan
The Week Recommends Beautiful gardens are 'the stuff of Japanese landscape legends'
By The Week UK
-
China accuses NSA of Winter Games cyberattacks
speed read China alleges that the U.S. National Security Agency launched cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games in February
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Russian strike kills dozens in Ukraine
Speed Read The Sumy ballistic missile strike was Russia's deadliest attack on civilians this year
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
South Korea court removes impeached president
Speed Read The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol after his declaration of martial law in December
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Myanmar quake deaths rise as survivor search intensifies
speed read The magnitude-7.7 earthquake in central Myanmar has killed a documented 2,000 people so far, and left scores more trapped beneath rubble
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
By Abby Wilson
-
Israel detains director after West Bank settler clash
speed read The director of Oscar-winning documentary 'No Other Land' was arrested and beaten
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Turkey arrests Istanbul mayor, a top Erdogan rival
Speed Read Protests erupted in Turkey after authorities detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu
By Peter Weber, The Week US