The President of the United States, Joe Biden, has announced plans to restore environmental protections to the Tongass National Park Forest in Alaska, and to reverse Trump-era policies that allowed large-scale logging and road construction in the area. The Tongass National Park is known to be the world largest temperate old-growth rain forest.
What else is happening?
- Large scale timber sales will be ended and there will be a shifted focus on forest restoration, conservation and non-commercial uses.
- Effectively restoring to Clinton-era protections where the 2001 rule prohibits road constructions and timber harvests on nearly one-third of forest land, Biden’s policy reversal would help return “stability and certainty to the conservation of 9.3 million acres” of the largest national forest in the US.
- The Agriculture Department states that they will invest up to $25 million in the Southeast Alaska region for economic and workforce development, particularly in industries like fishing and renewable energies.
- Oil and gas leases will be suspended.