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Forest Service adds Kake hearing on how roadless repeal could affect subsistence
The U.S. Forest Service will hold one more hearing on repealing the 2001 Roadless Rule, this time in Kake, the agency said Monday.
The Nov. 4 hearing, from 5 to 7 pm at the Organized Village of Kake Tribal Council Chambers, is for testimony on how ending the rule's limits on road building and logging could affect subsistence, according to the agency's updated release.
The agency is taking spoken testimony only. Written comments closed Oct. 6. Testimony becomes part of the record the Forest Service will consider for the final rule.
Kake is the sixth subsistence hearing and the only one left on the calendar. The others were in Ketchikan, Anchorage and online, plus one scheduled Monday in Craig, where the City Council asked Washington in September to keep the rule.
The 2001 rule generally bars new roads and logging in the roadless parts of national forests. In Alaska, that covers roughly 9.3 million acres of the Tongass, plus roadless land in the Chugach. Without it, each forest's own management plan would decide where roads and logging could go. The agency says repeal wouldn't by itself require a road or a cut anywhere.
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Stories on what’s next
USDA Roadless Rule Rescission – Final Rule, EIS, and Record of Decision
USDA moves to rescind the roadless rule on the Tongass
USDA is moving to lift the roadless rule on the Tongass, reviving a 25-year fight over roads, logging, and energy in the nation's largest forest. A decision is due later in 2026.
Latest
October 2026
Ketchikan Assembly to vote Tuesday on Ward Cove substation disaster declaration
Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly votes Tuesday on keeping its Ward Cove substation disaster declaration in force. Repairs could cost up to $1.59 million, more than KPU and the city have on hand.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Forest Service favors larger Prince of Wales logging plan that may restrict deer hunting
The Forest Service favors the bigger of two Prince of Wales logging plans in a draft decision that finds it may significantly restrict subsistence deer hunting.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read
Ketchikan Shipyard workers rejoin union after new operator said old contract didn't apply
New operator, same union. Ketchikan Shipyard workers voted 27-7 to rejoin their union after the yard's new operator said their old contract didn't carry over.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readFrom 
Petro Marine seeks state water quality sign-off to rebuild its Ketchikan fuel dock
Ketchikan's only fuel supplier, by its own account, wants to rebuild its aging Tongass Narrows dock. First it needs DEC to sign off on water quality.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readFrom 
Wildlife trooper rescues two Petersburg boaters stranded overnight on the Stikine River
Two Petersburg boaters spent a rainy night stuck on the Stikine River after their jet boat wouldn't go back in the water. A wildlife trooper brought them home.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Ketchikan Indian Community asks judge to halt Shelter Cove timber sale before contract award
Ketchikan Indian Community and two conservation groups asked a judge to halt the Shelter Cove timber sale before the Forest Service awards a logging contract.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom 
Ketchikan Assembly to take up $347,000 for new South Tongass ambulance after 2024 fire
A 2024 fire took both of South Tongass' ambulances. Ketchikan's Assembly takes up $347,000 in federal money Monday to replace one, plus a heart monitor.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
September 2026
Ketchikan Gateway Borough staff propose allowing housing on commercial waterfront land
Ketchikan Gateway Borough staff want to let housing onto commercial waterfront land and relabel seven parcels. The Planning Commission picks it back up Oct. 13.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
More from Tongass
Ketchikan man, 78, dies after his vehicle leaves North Tongass Highway near Mile 13
John Olson, 78, of Ketchikan died Saturday after his vehicle left North Tongass Highway near Mile 13. Troopers haven't said what caused the crash.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Sitka Tribe and Metlakatla May Request Return of 11 Ancestors and 16 Items in October
Four museums and federal agencies hold at least 11 Alaska Native ancestors and 16 cultural items the Sitka Tribe and Metlakatla may request returned starting in October.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read
Ketchikan Gateway Borough gets $347,000 to replace a South Tongass ambulance
South Tongass lost both its ambulances when the station burned in 2024. It has been driving an 18-year-old hand-me-down from Valdez ever since.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
The line that powers Petersburg would leave federal license oversight
Petersburg gets its power over an 80-mile line from Tyee Lake. The agency running it wants that line out of its federal license, the second this year.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Federal notices clear 11 Sitka ancestors for return
Two federal notices make at least 11 ancestors and 11 funerary objects eligible for return to the Sitka Tribe of Alaska.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom 
Craig's council asked Washington to keep the Tongass roadless rule
A former Craig timber cutter says four decades of logging left less deer food on the forest floor, not more. His council agreed with him, 4-1.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
An order would presume hunting is allowed on Alaska's federal land
An executive order would presume hunting is allowed across some 92 million federal acres in Alaska. The subsistence priority is statutory and stays put.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Remains of at least 10 and an 1895 mortuary pole can return to Sitka Tribe after Oct. 16
Tongass National Forest cleared remains of at least 10 Native individuals for return to Sitka Tribe of Alaska starting October 16, including a mortuary pole held since 1895.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
About Tongass
The Tongass, or Tongass National Forest, is a national forest in Southeast Alaska managed by the U.S. Forest Service. It takes in old-growth timber and salmon habitat around communities such as Ketchikan, Craig and Kake, on islands including Prince of Wales and Admiralty.
Logging is the forest's longest running question. Timber sales, the federal Roadless Rule that limits road building and logging, and the effect of logging on subsistence deer hunting draw hearings, tribal objections and lawsuits. The Ketchikan Indian Community and conservation groups are among those who challenge timber sales in court.
The name also attaches to places in and around Ketchikan, including the North and South Tongass Highway and Tongass Narrows, the waterway along the city. Tribes, Native corporations and towns across Southeast Alaska are tied to how the forest is managed.
More from Tongass
State approves 183-acre Heceta Island clearcut with 300-foot beach buffer
Alaska approved clear-cutting 183 acres on Heceta Island with a 300-foot beach buffer, rejecting the state's own habitat biologist's recommendation for 1,000 feet to protect winter deer habitat.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read
A dam licensed near Juneau 10 years ago still isn't built, and its deadline just passed
A dam licensed near Juneau a decade ago was never built, its construction deadline just expired, and the local utility says the town doesn't need the power.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom 
The Tlingit & Haida tribal government opposes opening the Tongass
Tlingit & Haida opposes lifting Tongass road limits. Native corporations once cut more than half the region's timber, then left the business entirely.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
Juneau Hydropower asks FERC for two more years to start Sweetheart Lake dam
Juneau Hydropower asked federal regulators to delay the Sweetheart Lake dam completion deadline by two years, to September 2031.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
August 2026
Anchorage Assembly set to waive protest on six marijuana license renewals
Anchorage Assembly will waive objections to six marijuana license renewals for four businesses, clearing the way for state approval by September and October deadlines.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Ketchikan tribe sues Forest Service over South Revilla logging near Ketchikan
Ketchikan Indian Community sued the Forest Service over logging that would cut 44% of winter deer habitat on Revillagigedo Island, threatening subsistence hunting.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A rural Alaska phone company says a subsidy cut costs $185 per connection
Alaska Power & Telephone told the FCC that ending a rural subsidy would cost the company $1.1 million yearly across its 40 remote communities.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
Juneau task force weighs reviving 2001 heliport study that projected 6,037 homes out of noise corridors
Juneau's Visitor Industry Task Force will decide Thursday whether to update a 2001 study that found moving helicopter tours could remove 6,037 homes from noise corridors.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
The federal government wants to lift roadless protections, including in the Tongass
USDA wants to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule across 58.5 million acres, including the Tongass. Alaskans have until Sept. 21 to weigh in on it.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A proposed rule would presume national forest roads and trails are open unless the Forest Service documents a reason to close them
A proposed rule would presume national forest roads and trails, including in Alaska, are open unless the Forest Service documents a reason to close them.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A $3.19 million contract will fix roads and fish passage near Ketchikan
The Forest Service is paying $3.19 million for road and culvert work near Ketchikan. Since 1998 it has fixed about 57% of the Tongass culverts inventoried.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
USDA proposes lifting roadless rule protections on Tongass and Chugach
USDA proposes ending the 2001 Roadless Rule on Alaska's Tongass and Chugach forests, opening 9.3 million acres to potential road building and logging under local forest plans. Comments due Sept. 21.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Juneau-area gillnetters get another opener, but directed king fishing stays closed on low abundance
Juneau-area gillnetters get another opener through Wednesday, but directed king fishing stays closed across four Southeast districts on low king numbers.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Federal charter keeps water sampling going on the Unuk, downstream of three British Columbia mines
A $15,510 charter keeps USGS crews sampling the Unuk River this fall. Three large British Columbia mine projects sit in development upstream.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A Tsimshian carver, accused of inventing clan stories, is affirmed by another clan
Accused by some in his own community of inventing Tsimshian migration stories, carver David Boxley was publicly affirmed by a Wrangell clan that shares them.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
July 2026
A small Petersburg timber sale is a marker of the Tongass's long turn away from old growth
A young-growth-only timber sale near Petersburg is a small marker of the Tongass's contested, decades-long turn from old-growth clearcuts to second-growth logging. Bids due Aug. 25.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Murkowski targets federal conditions on Southeast's hydropower licenses
Southeast's power comes from dams on Tongass land. Murkowski's bill would limit what the Forest Service can demand as those licenses come up for renewal.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Glacial outburst flood destroys 100 feet of Fish Creek bear platform near Hyder
A glacial outburst flood destroyed over 100 feet of the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site platform near Hyder, forcing the Forest Service to close the bear and salmon viewing facility.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readFrom 
Anchorage Assembly to consider beer and wine permit for golf simulator on Old Seward Highway
Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on beer and wine sales at Mulligan's golf simulator on Old Seward Highway, with the administration recommending approval.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A Tlingit artist crossed the border to teach Anchorage kids an ancient craft
A Tlingit artist traveled from British Columbia to Anchorage to teach kids the ancient art of bentwood box making — a watertight box bent from a single seamless plank.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Rockslide blocks both lanes of North Tongass Hwy near Ward Cove
A rockslide blocked both lanes of North Tongass Highway near Ward Cove on Tuesday morning, cutting the only paved road connecting North Tongass communities to Ketchikan.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
ADF&G extends Districts 6 and 8 drift gillnet fishery 48 hours with mesh and area limits
ADF&G extended the Petersburg-area drift gillnet fishery 48 hours through Saturday noon with a 6-inch mesh cap and subarea closures in District 8 to protect Chinook salmon escapement.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
SHI book documents the fraught origins of three Juneau totem poles
Sealaska Heritage Institute released a book on Juneau totem poles. It details how the Forest Service commissioned Native art while seizing Native land.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
What "Lake No Lake" is, and why the Taku is running cold and full of debris
Lake No Lake is exactly that — a basin behind a glacier that fills, then drains all at once. It just did, sending cold water and debris down the Taku. No flooding expected.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read