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The roadless rule is the law of the land after surviving its final legal challenge on March 25, 2013, when the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the state of Alaska's challenge that, while aimed at the Tongass National Forest, would have nullified the national rule. The Alaska case was the final litigation challenging ...
The Alaska Roadless Rule is an environmental conservation policy that placed significant restrictions on timber removal and road construction or reconstruction in Inventoried roadless areas, which protects about half of the Tongass National Forest and Chugach National Forest's 17 million acres. [1]
The first review of Forest Service roadless lands was started in 1967 after the creation of the Wilderness Act by Congress in 1964. This effort was called the “Roadless Area Review and Evaluation” or “RARE I”, and culminated in 1972 with a finding that 12,300,000 acres (50,000 km 2) that were suitable to be designated as wilderness.
Under Dombeck's leadership, the roadless rule was developed, which protected 58 million acres of the most remote national forest lands. The rule began as an 18-month moratorium on road construction, then was made permanent as a result of activism and email campaigns by environmental advocates. [7]
On Jan. 12, 2001, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule was established. This rule set national guidelines limiting backcountry timber harvest and road construction and reconstruction with a goal of upholding the roadless characteristics found on millions of acres of inventoried roadless areas.
With the passage of the Roadless Rule, inventoried roadless areas, 'for better or worse, [were] more committed to pristine wilderness, and less amendable to road development for purposes permitted by the Forest Service.'" [29]
The intent of the 2001 Roadless Rule is to provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System in the context of multiple-use management." [36] SEACC, together with Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council, advocated on behalf of the Tongass National Forest and challenged the State of Alaska.
In November 2021, the Biden administration announced they would start to reinstate the Roadless Rule, protecting about 9 million acres of Tongass National Forest. In a statement Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, "Restoring the Tongas' roadless protections supports the advancement of economic, ecologic and cultural sustainability in ...