Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America’s largest rainforest
Ask people to find the world’s rainforests on a globe, and most will probably point to South America. But North America has rainforests too – and like their tropical counterparts, these temperate rainforests are ecological treasures.
The Biden administration finalized a rule on Jan. 25, 2023, that restores roadless protection to more than 9 million acres of the Tongass National Forest, keeping this land free from road-building and logging. The Tongass is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world and the biggest U.S. national forest. It spreads over more than 26,000 square miles (67,340 square kilometers) – roughly the size of West Virginia – and covers most of southeast Alaska. It has thousands of watersheds and fjords, and more than a thousand forested islands.
For over 20 years, the Tongass has been at the center of political battles over two key conservation issues: old-growth logging and designating large forest zones as roadless areas to prevent development. As a scientist specializing in forest ecosystems, I see protecting the Tongass as the kind of bold action that’s needed to address climate change and biodiversity loss.