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Press Release: Victory January 25, 2023

U.S. Forest Service restores critical protections to Tongass National Forest

The National Roadless Rule was rolled back for America’s last great rainforest by the Trump administration, threatening millions of acres of undeveloped national forest lands

feature January 25, 2023

This Dreamy Alaskan Rainforest is a Buffer Against Climate Change

Thanks to collective advocacy, 9 million acres of Tongass National Forest are no longer threatened by new clear-cut logging.

Bakewell Lake in the Tongass National Forest
 (Jeff DeFreest / USDA)
Update: Victory July 16, 2021

‘America’s Climate Forest’ Now Safe From Major Old-Growth Logging

The Biden administration announced unprecedented protections for Tongass National Forest, which Earthjustice has long defended.

Press Release June 11, 2021

Biden Administration Takes Action to Protect Tongass National Forest

U.S. Forest Service revisits Trump rollback of Roadless Rule

Located in Alaska's panhandle, the Tongass is the country's largest national forest—and home to nearly one-third of all old-growth temperate rainforest remaining in the entire world.
(Lee Prince / Shutterstock)
case April 23, 2021

Defending Roadless Areas in the Tongass National Forest

In a multi-year litigation effort, a diverse coalition of Alaska Native, tourism industry, and environmental organizations successfully challenged the Bush administration’s 2003 rule “temporarily” exempting southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest — the nation’s largest and wildest — from the landmark 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. More than a decade later, Earthjustice and our clients went…

Wanda Culp and her colleagues at WECAN are fighting to defend the Tongass from logging.
(Michael Penn for Earthjustice)
feature April 20, 2021

Defending America’s Climate Forest

Earthjustice is defending the Tongass National Forest, a key weapon in fighting climate change

Document April 12, 2021

111 Scientists ask Biden Administration to Protect the Tongass as a Climate Measure

Old-growth trees in the Tongass National Forest serve as an excellent buffer against climate change. 111 scientists called on the Biden administration to include strong protections for these forests as a climate measure.

Document April 6, 2021

50 organizations urge Biden to protect Tongass and carbon-rich forests

50 organizations called on President Joe Biden to include long-term protections for the Tongass National Forest and other mature, carbon-dense forests as part of his administration's international climate commitments.

Press Release April 6, 2021

50 Organizations Call on President Biden to Protect Tongass National Forest and Carbon-rich Forests Under U.S. Climate Commitments

Biden administration expected to release international climate commitments ahead of Earth Day summit on April 22

Document December 23, 2020

Complaint Challenging Roadless Rule Rollback in Tongass National Forest

Earthjustice's Alaska regional office filed a complaint on behalf of five Alaska Native Tribes, small businesses and conservation organizations.

Press Release December 23, 2020

Lawsuit Takes Aim at Trump Administration Decision to Gut Tongass National Forest Protections

Time is running out to curb carbon emissions, but Tongass logging will only make climate change worse

The old-growth trees of the Tongass National Forest provide a major buffer against climate change.
(JOHN HYDE / WILD THINGS PHOTOGRAPHY)
Update December 23, 2020

We’re Suing the Trump Administration for Trying to Sell Off ‘America’s Amazon’

Alaska Native Tribes, businesses, and conservation groups have filed a lawsuit to defend southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest from clearcutting and mining.

If the Roadless Rule is lifted in the Tongass National Forest, more areas of intact temperate rainforest will be opened to clear-cut logging.
(Photo by Colin Arisman)
Press Release September 24, 2020

U.S. Forest Service Pushes Ahead to Gut Protections for America’s Climate Forest

Tongass National Forest jeopardized by push to abandon Roadless Rule and allow new logging

Adrien Nichol Lee, keeper of cultural Tlingit education and president of the Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 12, is traveling to D.C. on behalf of the WECAN Indigenous Women's Tongass Delegation.
(Melissa Lyttle for Earthjustice)
Press Release November 12, 2019

USFS, Lawmakers to Hear Alaska Native, Southeast Alaskan Perspectives on Newest Threat to Tongass National Forest

A broad range of stakeholders facing harm from proposed Roadless Rule exemption travel to D.C. to explain impact

Tlingit tribal member Wanda Culp traveled to Washington to ask government officials to protect her home, Alaska's Tongass National Forest.
(Melissa Lyttle for Earthjustice)
Article March 20, 2019

‘It Is the Largest National Forest, and I’m Going to Keep It That Way’

Indigenous women from Southeast Alaska traveled to Washington, D.C., to advocate for the Tongass National Forest and the Roadless Rule.

Snow covered trees and cabin on a fall day in the Tongass National Forest, Alaska.
("Camping Cove" by Joseph/CC BY-SA 2.0)
Article December 18, 2017

Saving Alaska’s Ancient Trees

As my family and others decorate our Christmas trees, some of their oldest-remaining ancestors are at risk of being chopped down.

The Tongass National Forest, Alaska
(Earleliason / iStock)
Press Release: Victory March 28, 2016

U.S. Supreme Court Denies Effort to Overturn Tongass National Forest Protections

Court leaves rules in place that protect Tongass rainforest wildlands from damaging logging, road construction

An aerial view of regrowth following clear-cuts in the Tongass National Forest.
(Shutterstock)
Press Release November 23, 2015

Statement on Release of Tongass National Forest Management Plan

Earthjustice urges the U.S. Forest Service to end large-scale, old-growth logging much faster in its final plan.