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A beaver lodge in the Sunset Roadless Area. The area is home to species including elk, bear, beaver and goshawk.
(Ted Zukoski / Earthjustice)
feature June 23, 2025

Timeline of the Roadless Rule

A timeline of the creation of and fight to defend the National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Policy.

Sunlight breaks through the lush understory of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. (Carlos Rojas / Getty Images)
Press Release June 23, 2025

Tongass Defenders Blast the Trump Administration’s Rollback of Roadless Rule Protections on America’s Largest Forest

Allowing logging and roadbuilding on now protected lands in the Tongass National Forest is a deeply unpopular action that poses grave harm to the forest

Logging in the Tongass National Forest. (Colin Arisman / Wild Confluence Media)
Press Release May 28, 2025

Tribes, Fishing and Forest Advocates Intervene to Defend the Tongass Against Increased Old-Growth Logging

Timber interests try to force more old-growth logging sales in the Tongass National Forest

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)
From the Experts April 4, 2024

The Forest Service Wants to Hear from the Public on Tongass National Forest Management

U.S. Forest Service officials are traveling throughout Southeast Alaska to hear from residents about how they want our nation’s largest forest managed in coming decades.

feature April 2, 2024

This Treasured Alaska Rainforest Shields Us From Climate Change

The National Roadless Rule, now reinstated on the Tongass National Forest, safeguards vast tracts of old-growth forest that serve as important carbon sinks.

The Tongass is America’s largest national forest.
(Brian Logan / U.S. Forest Service)
Press Release January 30, 2024

Alaska Native Tribes, Southeast Alaska Businesses and Forest Advocates Defend Tongass National Forest’s Roadless Rule

Legal intervention seeks to retain forest protections that support Tribes, communities, and sustainable local economies

document January 30, 2024

Motion to Intervene to Defend Tongass Roadless Rule

A broad coalition of Alaska Native Tribes, commercial fishers, small tourism businesses, conservation groups, and other forest advocates are seeking to defend the reinstatement of National Roadless Rule protections across the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska by intervening in several legal challenges opposing the rule.

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

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

Situated in the southeast corner of Alaska, the Tongass National Forest is a temperate rainforest and the ancestral homeland of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples. The islands, fjords, glaciers, and muskegs that make up the Tongass — nation’s largest national forest — provide some of the most rare and intact ecosystems in the world,…

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.