Alaska Court Saves World's Largest Temperate Rainforest

The world's largest temperate rainforest just got a permanent shield against industrial logging, thanks to a decisive court victory in Alaska.

Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed a lawsuit from three logging companies trying to overturn protections for Tongass National Forest's ancient trees. The ruling came "with prejudice," a rare legal term meaning the companies can never bring the same lawsuit again.

Tongass spans 17 million acres across southeast Alaska, making it America's largest national forest. Its old-growth trees provide crucial habitat for bald eagles, brown bears, sperm whales, Chinook salmon, and the endangered Haida ermine, a tiny all-white relative of the weasel.

The legal fight centered on a 2021 policy called the Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy. This plan ended old-growth logging in Tongass except for tribal purposes, building on earlier protections from 2016.

Viking Lumber Company, Alcan Timber Incorporated, and the Alaska Forest Association argued the government wasn't providing enough timber to meet "market demand" required by a 1990 law. They claimed the 2016 forest plan promised them 34 million board feet of old-growth timber annually.

Judge Gleason sided with federal agencies and environmental groups who defended the protections. She agreed the 2016 plan set a cap on logging, not a quota, and that agencies have discretion in managing public forests.

The Ripple Effect

This victory extends far beyond Alaska's borders. Tongass stores massive amounts of carbon in its ancient trees, helping fight climate change globally. The forest's salmon runs feed communities and wildlife throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Local Indigenous communities joined the defense alongside groups like the Center for Biological Diversity. "This lawsuit had no legal basis, and the court was right to dismiss the case outright," said Marlee Goska, the organization's Alaska attorney. "We need to leave the Tongass standing for the sake of wildlife, climate, and local communities."

Court documents revealed Viking Lumber admitted it would likely face bankruptcy without access to old-growth timber sales. But the judge determined protecting these irreplaceable forests outweighs commercial interests.

The ancient trees of Tongass will keep standing tall, sheltering generations of wildlife and storing carbon for a healthier planet.