August 21, 2026 SalmonState, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, UnCruise Adventures and The Boat Company today reacted with disappointment and frustration to the U.S. Department of Agriculture announcement of the Environmental Impact Statement that will withdraw the Roadless Rule Protections across the entire country, including from the Tongass National Forest.
Today’s announcement is a clear example of a top-down, DC-driven approach to management in the Tongass that is out of touch not only with what people here want, but with the reality of the place itself. The main claim in the USDA’s release is that stripping Roadless protections will minimize wildfire risk, but the Tongass is a temperate rainforest, with rainfall ranging up to 225 inches per year in the wettest locations. It does not experience wildfires like those in other places.
The Roadless Rule currently protects the remaining unroaded areas of the forest, preventing the building of taxpayer-funded logging roads, but not essential infrastructure or other approved projects. The stripping of Roadless protections is happening as the timber industry is aggressively lobbying for increased logging, the Forest Service has sustained historic staffing losses, and the agency is turning over management to the State of Alaska for increased harvest.
“The Tongass drives multiple billion-dollar economies in Southeast Alaska precisely because of its wildness,” said SalmonState Southeast Futures Program Director Dan Kirkwood. “The forest’s best-performing assets are fisheries and outdoor recreation. Ensuring those assets stay intact should be our priority. This certainly has nothing to do with wildfire in this temperate rainforest.”
"Fisheries support the economy, culture, and Southeast Alaska way of life,” said Linda Behnken, Executive Director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association. ”And they do so sustainably, year after year, providing we take care of the forest, rivers and estuaries that the fish depend on. Compromising the fisheries, which annually contribute over $800 million in economic impact to this rural region, for short-term timber extraction funded by the federal government is an unthinkable trade off.”