Trump Doubles Down on His Assault on Alaska’s Old-Growth Forests
US Forest Service’s multiple plans to log vast swathes of Tongass National Forest faces stiff opposition
By Paul Koberstein & Jessica Applegate
Originally published October 7, 2019 at Earth Island Journal
DURING THE LAST HALF of the twentieth century, loggers cut down a hefty slice of old-growth forest blanketing Prince of Wales island, the fourth largest island in the United States located at the southern end of Alaska’s massive Tongass National Forest. And now the Trump administration is coming back for the rest.
The US Forest Service plans to roll back protections on the most pristine parts of the national forest and chop down another quarter million acres of the island’s old growth forest — generally, trees more than 150 years old. Old-growth timber is often favored over younger timber because of its more attractive appearance, but cutting it down threatens the island’s wildlife and the subsistence lifestyles that depend on it.
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