USDA moves to rescind the roadless rule on the Tongass

USDA is moving to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule on Alaska's Tongass National Forest, the latest turn in a 25-year fight over how much of the country's largest national forest should be open to roads and development.

The rule bars road construction, road reconstruction, and timber harvest in inventoried roadless areas, with limited exceptions. Rescinding it would lift those federal prohibitions and return decisions about roads and logging to local Forest Service officials through forest-level management plans. Nationwide, the change would cover nearly 45 million acres; in Alaska, USDA says the rule has put 92% of the Tongass off-limits. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has framed the rescission as a way to support wildfire prevention, timber production, and local control.

For Alaska's state government, the move is a long-sought win. The State petitioned to exempt the Tongass in 2018 and has gone to court to defend that exemption, with Attorney General Treg Taylor calling the rule a "one-size-fits-all" federal mandate that conflicts with Alaska-specific laws and cripples Southeast communities. The State and its congressional delegation have pushed to exempt the Tongass across six consecutive governors — Democratic, independent, and Republican. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich, who both backed the rescission, argue the rule blocks not only logging but mining, community road connections, and lower-cost energy projects like hydropower in towns hemmed in by the forest.

Opponents argue the intact forest is worth more than what opening it would yield. The Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association and conservation groups such as Earthjustice tie the forest's health to Southeast's fishing and tourism economies — which employ far more people than logging does — and warn that new roads and harvest would damage salmon habitat and old-growth stands. The Forest Service's own Alaska Region has described high-value roadless areas on the Tongass and Chugach as important for recreation, tourism, wildlife, and biodiversity.

The first comment period closed Sept. 19, 2025, and the Forest Service is reviewing responses. A draft environmental impact statement and proposed rule are expected in 2026, with a final decision later in the year; as of mid-July, the draft had not been released. The Tongass has flipped before: a 2020 exemption was repealed in 2023, restoring the 2001 rule that the current proposal would undo.