Forest Service Should Halt Alaska Roadless Rule Process During Inspector General Investigation
Tongass National Forest, AK
Nelson Guda
USDA Inspector General to look into whether taxpayer dollars were improperly distributed to local timber group advocating to lift protections in the Tongass
WASHINGTON - The Wilderness Society encourages the U.S. Forest Service to halt the Alaskan roadless rule process while the Office of Inspector General completes an investigation into whether the U.S. Forest Service improperly awarded funds slated for wildfire prevention to the state of Alaska, which then ended up in the hands of a logging advocacy association.
Statement from Roadless Campaign Manager Josh Hicks:
“This rulemaking process has been flawed from the start. The timber industry has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer dollars to help them engage in the roadless process. Yet, the Forest Service has ignored concerns raised by local tribes, including the expedited pace of the process. We urge the Forest Service to suspend the rulemaking process until the Inspector General completes the inquiry and determines whether the federal funds were improperly used during this process, and we commend Sen. Stabenow and Rep. Grijalva for asking tough questions about this biased and unfair process.”
The Forest Service’s Roadless Area Conservation Rule (Roadless Rule) protects 58.5 million acres of wild, undeveloped national forests across the country, including more than 9 million acres on the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. The Tongass is one of the largest remaining temperate rainforests in the world and is a champion at storing carbon. Its old-growth trees store more carbon than any other national forest in the country.
The Trump administration wants to roll back protections on the Tongass National Forest in order to open vast tracts of the forest to widespread logging. The Forest Service released a draft rule in October 2019. The Forest Service is expected to release its final rule early this summer.
Contacts:
Chelsi Moy, Communications Manager, The Wilderness Society, (406) 240-3013, chelsi_moy@tws.org
Josh Hicks, Roadless Campaign Manager, The Wilderness Society, (720) 984-8544, josh_hicks@tws.org
The Wilderness Society, founded in 1935, is the leading conservation organization working to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. With more than one million members and supporters, The Wilderness Society has led the effort to permanently protect 109 million acres of wilderness and to ensure sound management of our shared national lands. www.wilderness.org
