Cases / Law, regulation and treaties · United States · 2020–2025

Alaska's Tongass forest again proposed for exemption from roadless rule

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report

No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.

Did nature suffer? Not measured.

Not on record

The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.

What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

The Tongass National Forest in Alaska was exempted from the roadless rule in 2020, protection was restored in 2023, and a new exemption was proposed in 2025. At stake: undeveloped forest covered by the 25-year-old national roadless rule.

What?

The Tongass was exempted from the roadless rule in 2020, protection was restored in 2023, and a new exemption was proposed in 2025. Harvard EELP

Where?

Tongass National Forest, Alaska Harvard EELP

When?

Exemption 2020; protection restored 2023; new exemption proposed 2025; national rescission reported August 2026. Harvard EELP

Who?

Gained

None on record

Lost

Roadless forest in the Tongass — Roadless protection would be removed if the 2025 exemption proposal is adopted Harvard EELP

Harmed

None on record

Why?

Not stated in the sources reviewed.

How?

Exemption from the national roadless rule, within a national rescission proposal reported in August 2026. OPB

6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The Harvard EELP Alaska Roadless Rule tracker records a 2020 exemption for the Tongass, its restoration in 2023 and a 2025 proposal for a new exemption.

OPB reported in August 2026 that the Trump administration was moving ahead to end the 25-year-old roadless rule on national forests, and that no final decision had yet been made.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

Nature

Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

Record

Insufficient Reported but not verified: the national rescission would affect about 59 million acres, or 30% of national forest land (AP via Nugget News).
None on record Reported without a linked source: the national rescission covers about 44.7 million acres of an inventory of about 58.5 million acres, with Idaho and Colorado excluded.
None on record Reported without a linked source: wildfire-prevention thinning is given as the rationale.
None on record Not stated in the sources reviewed: the acreage of the Tongass affected by the 2025 proposal, or the date of a final decision.