Trump administration proposes allowing new roads in Alaska's Tongass forest

The Trump administration has proposed reopening the Tongass National Forest to road-building, setting the stage for more logging, mining and development in the heart of North America’s largest temperate rainforest. The U.S. Forest Service on Thursday released a final environmental impact statement that said the state of Alaska should be exempt from a 2001 rule that bars new roads in national forests. The rule exemption option selected by the Forest Service “provides maximum additional timber harvest opportunities,” the environmental impact statement said.