Biden Plans to Restore Alaskan Forest Protections Stripped Under Trump

By Coral Davenport
The New York Times
June 11, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

The Biden administration plans to restore environmental protections to Tongass National Forest in Alaska, one of the world’s largest intact temperate rain forests, that had been stripped away by former President Donald J. Trump.  The administration intends to “repeal or replace” a Trump-era rule which opened about nine million acres, or more than half of the forest, to logging and road construction, according to a White House document published on Friday.  …The national forest had been protected from logging, mining and other development since 2001 by a policy known as the roadless rule, which prevented road building necessary for those other activities.  But last year, Mr. Trump lifted the rule for a large section of Tongass, pleasing Alaskan lawmakers who had lobbied for the change for years. 

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