{"id":141825,"date":"2019-09-02T12:02:40","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T11:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=141825"},"modified":"2019-09-09T09:33:22","modified_gmt":"2019-09-09T08:33:22","slug":"trump-moves-to-allow-logging-in-the-worlds-largest-intact-temperate-rainforest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/09\/trump-moves-to-allow-logging-in-the-worlds-largest-intact-temperate-rainforest\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Moves to Allow Logging in the World\u2019s Largest Intact Temperate Rainforest"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p><em>Meanwhile, the Amazon burns.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_141826\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alaska-glacier-usa-environ-iceberg.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-141826\" class=\"wp-image-141826\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alaska-glacier-usa-environ-iceberg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alaska-glacier-usa-environ-iceberg.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alaska-glacier-usa-environ-iceberg-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alaska-glacier-usa-environ-iceberg-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-141826\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Icebergs near the Dawes Glacier, Endicott Arm, Tongass National Forest, Alaska, USA.<br \/>(Sergi Reboredo\/VW PICS\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>28 Aug 2019 &#8211; <\/em>As Brazil\u2019s Amazon burns, President Donald Trump is taking aim at one of the largest expanses of temperate rainforest in Alaska.<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday, the president instructed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to allow logging in the 16.7 million acre Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska, the nation\u2019s largest national forest.<\/p>\n<p>Together with British Columbia\u2019s Great Bear Rainforest in Canada, the Tongass encompasses the largest intact temperate rainforest on Earth.<\/p>\n<p>The move would undo logging restrictions that have been in place for nearly 20 years, according to <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/climate-environment\/trump-pushes-to-allow-new-logging-in-alaskas-tongass-national-forest\/2019\/08\/27\/b4ca78d6-c832-11e9-be05-f76ac4ec618c_story.html\" >The Washington Post,<\/a> impacting more than half of the national forest.<\/p>\n<p>Under the Clinton-era \u201croadless rule,\u201d construction of roads were barred in the forest, thereby restricting commercial logging, energy, and mining projects (only certain road projects approved by the Forest Service were allowed).<\/p>\n<p>The rule has faced challenges over the years, though, including by President George W. Bush who tried unsuccessfully to reverse it. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) have also called for Trump to exempt the state from the rule.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt should never have been applied to our state, and it is harming our ability to develop a sustainable, year-round economy for the Southeast region,\u201d Murkowski said in a statement to the Washington Post.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The old-growth trees of the Tongass National Forest provide a MAJOR BUFFER against climate change.<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wW5bGGhBnK\" >https:\/\/t.co\/wW5bGGhBnK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Earthjustice (@Earthjustice) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Earthjustice\/status\/1165655070454644736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >August 25, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Environmentalists, however, fear the implications of opening up the rainforest to commercial activities.<\/p>\n<p>The pristine forest includes thousands of islands along with glacial fjords and old-growth cedar, spruce, and hemlock trees \u2014 old-growth trees are those that have generally grown undisturbed for at least 120 years. The area supports countless wildlife, including all five species of Pacific salmon, brown bears, wolves, and Bald Eagles.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, logging has threatened the oldest \u2014 and largest \u2014 trees. But while only 9% of the rare forest has so far been threatened by logging, according to the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ak.audubon.org\/conservation\/tongass-national-forest\" >Audubon Societ<\/a>y \u201cperhaps half of the big-tree old growth has been cut.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The forest is also a vital player in tackling climate change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Tongass stores hundreds of millions, if not over a billion, tons of carbon, keeping the heat-trapping element out of the atmosphere,\u201d wrote <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/earthjustice.org\/features\/tongass-old-growth-climate-change?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social\" >Earthjustice<\/a>, which tweeted that the old-growth trees provide a \u201cMAJOR BUFFER\u201d against climate change.<\/p>\n<p>Cutting down ancient trees risks not just releasing the carbon stored in them over the past century but also reducing the forest\u2019s ability to store new carbon.<\/p>\n<p>News of the Trump administration\u2019s logging intentions in Tongass come as another major forest suffers devastating wildfires. In Brazil, more than 26,000 forest fires have been recorded in the Amazon this month \u2014 the most in a decade.<\/p>\n<p>Like the Tongass, the Amazon \u2014 often referred to as the \u201clungs\u201d of the planet \u2014 plays a vital role in storing carbon as well as critical habitat to endangered species.<\/p>\n<p>__________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Kyla-Mandel.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-141827 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Kyla-Mandel-e1567153848336.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><\/em><em>Kyla Mandel is the editor for the climate team. Her work has appeared in<\/em> National Geographic, Mother Jones, <em>and<\/em> Vice. <em>She has a master&#8217;s degree from Columbia University\u2019s Graduate School of Journalism, specializing in science, health, and environment reporting. You can reach her at <a href=\"kmandel@thinkprogress.org\">kmandel@thinkprogress.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/trump-moves-to-allow-logging-in-the-worlds-largest-intact-temperate-rainforest-3802173b038f\/\" >Go to Original \u2013 thinkprogress.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>28 Aug 2019 &#8211; As Brazil\u2019s Amazon burns, Trump is taking aim at one of the largest expanses of temperate rainforest. Yesterday, he instructed the agriculture secretary to allow logging in the 16.7 million acre Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska, the nation\u2019s largest national forest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":141826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,61],"tags":[120,794,401,249,70,126],"class_list":["post-141825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anglo-america","category-environment","tag-conflict","tag-deforestation","tag-environment","tag-trump","tag-usa","tag-violence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}