Tongass National Forest: Fight for Protection

0:00It's April 22nd. This is Anchorage News today, AI-powered stories from your city. The Tongas National Forest in Southeast Alaska faces a big threat right now. It's the world's largest temperate rainforest, and the roadless rule has protected 45 million acres from roads and heavy logging for two decades. But the Trump administration plans to scrap that rule soon, putting places like Tongas at risk of clear-cutting old-growth trees. Loads like the organized village of Kassain have stewarded this land for thousands of years. For them, the forest isn't just trees, it's tied to their height of culture, food from salmon and wildlife, and clean water. Without the rule, more industrial logging could ramp up, just like it did back in the 50s and 80s. Locals and tribes are pushing back hard because the impacts hit everyone. Logging promises jobs, but mostly ships temper out, leaving little wealth behind while harding tourism and fishing economies. Plus, it damages carbon stores that fights climate change and takes 400 years for forest

1:02to regrow fully. In spots scarred by past clear cuts, the roadless rule has let healing start, which drives working alongside the forest service to restore ecosystems. Old-growth stands support traditional uses like building canoes and losing them threatens cultural survival for generations. Despite for Tonga's protections, calls on all of us to step up. From Alaska to the world, keeping the healing going for people, planet, and future. Kids.