On August 20th, the U.S. Forest Service released its proposed plan to move forward with removing Roadless Rule protections for the Tongass National Forest (and all national forests). That means more than 9 million acres of the Tongass National Forest will be open to road development and industrial logging and mining. The Forest Service’s proposed removal of Roadless Rule protections ignores strong public support for the Roadless Rule; in 2025, over 95% of public comments submitted to the Forest Service were in support of keeping Roadless Rule protections in place.

Why does this matter for Alaska’s fishermen and seafood industry?

Commercial fishing is the backbone of Alaska. But the industry is in a challenging place and leadership is lacking. A strong commercial fishing industry is critical to the future of our state, and especially our coastal communities.