Trump reignites debate on Alaska logging

By Marc Heller | 01/22/2025 01:58 PM EST

The decision to again lift limits on roadless-area development sets up a rematch over the Tongass National Forest.

Tourists visiting the Mendenhall Glacier in Tongass National Forest are reflected in a pool of water.

Tourists visiting the Mendenhall Glacier in the Tongass National Forest are reflected in a pool of water. The roadless rule covers 9.37 million acres in the 17-million-acre Tongass. Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

President Donald Trump’s decision on his first day in office to lift logging restrictions in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest rekindles a fight about the future of one of the world’s last remaining temperate rainforests.

Battle lines around the issue took on a familiar look, as environmental groups vowed to resist the new administration’s moves and proponents of more development cheered that the long-brewing debate has once again turned in their direction.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) likened the back-and-forth on the regulation to a yo-yo that’s stymied not only timber but other industries that require some work in the national forest.

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“Don’t choke the local economy by a rule that is so unwieldy that we can’t help the local communities develop the transition lines that will connect their hydro sources,” Murkowski told POLITICO’s E&E News on Tuesday, acknowledging that logging in the area isn’t about to rebound to the industry it was during her childhood.

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