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.
“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.