Trump Rule Revocation ‘About the Timber,’ Says Ex-Forest Official

A Trump administration proposal to overturn a rule barring road-building and logging in Tongass National Forest is a “Hail Mary pass” for Alaska’s struggling timber interests, an ex-Forest Service official tells Bobby Magill.

• The administration is seeking to exempt all of Tongass from the 2001 Roadless Rule as Alaska’s timber companies seek to fell its spruce and hemlock, and mining companies look to extract rare-earth elements to feed the global demand for consumer electronics.
• “It’s about the timber. It’s always been about the timber,” said Jim Furnish, a former Forest Service deputy chief in President Bill Clinton’s administration who was ...