Trump orders more logging in national forests, but impacts on Alaska's Tongass are unclear after firings

JUNEAU, Alaska — President Donald Trump has issued several executive orders in recent weeks to expand logging in the nation's forests, but stakeholders say the recent mass firings of U.S. Forest Service employees could hinder the administration's plans in Alaska.

Trump's actions are the latest chapter in a decades-long tug-of-war between conservation and development in Southeast Alaska's Tongass National Forest — by far the largest of the nation's forests.

On his first day back in the White House, Trump signed an executive order to boost development of Alaska's "extraordinary" natural resources. Included in that sweeping order were plans to repeal the so-called roadless rule that limits logging and other resource development in the Tongass.

Trump on Saturday issued another executive order intended to expand domestic timber production by bypassing federal endangered species protections, The New York Times reported.

Conservation groups, such as Earthjustice, said the administration's plans could see "a chainsaw free-for-all" in the nation's forests. Supporters said the administration's plans could create thousands of good-paying jobs in Alaska.

But both sides of the conservation-development debate are waiting to see the precise impacts of the president's plans in the Tongass.

Robert Venables, executive director of Southeast Conference, welcomed Trump's recent order to expand logging, which mentions mitigating wildfire risks. He said the administration seemed to be taking "a more holistic approach to forest management."

He called the roadless rule an "emotional lightning rod" in Southeast Alaska, which has been a "political football" for decades. (Trump in his first term repealed the roadless rule, which former President Joe Biden then largely restored.)

Venables said the Southeast Conference — the region's economic development organization — is focused on developing a more "durable" management plan for the Tongass focused on three areas: forest health, habitat health and community-economic health.

Logging in the Tongass has steadily declined since peaking in the 1970s. In 2023, 18 million board feet of timber was harvested from the forest — less than half what was logged a decade earlier.

Venables said removing some of "the shackles" from the federal permitting and regulatory process could help Alaska's timber industry harvest more younger growth trees. But he cautioned that Trump's actions would not necessarily have immediate effects.

"Executive orders themselves do not supply any trees to the mills," he said.

Trump's plans could open 9 million acres of the 17 million-acre forest for logging and mining. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Monday said the president's actions could create "great paying jobs" in Southeast Alaska.

Critics, though, have expressed concerns that expanding logging and mining in the Tongass could negatively impact the region's valuable tourism and fishing industries.

Maggie Rabb, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, said Trump's orders do not reflect the wishes of Southeast Alaska communities.

Rabb said she's concerned that Trump has directed the U.S. Forest Service to work with states to expand logging. She said with the Dunleavy administration's support, timber harvests could quickly ramp up in the Tongass.

But like supporters of logging, Rabb said she was unsure when the planned roadless rule repeal would take effect in the Tongass.

"It's been more than a month now, and we're still in wait-and-see mode," she said.

Typically, a federal administration would post a public notice, triggering a public comment period before the repeal would be enacted, she said. But Rabb said that she did not know if the Trump administration would follow that practice "since they don't seem to mind throwing out the rulebook."

One factor that could impact Trump's plans: the administration's mass firings at the Forest Service, Venables and Rabb said.

Both suggested that sacking dozens of Forest Service employees in Alaska, including those serving in the Tongass, would hinder the agency's ability to enact the president's plans.

"That is a major concern," Venables said. "We will need to have many more jobs created in the Tongass communities to meet these objectives."

Trump's executive orders to expand logging come as the Forest Service is engaged in a review of the management plan for the Tongass. The project was expected to be completed in 2028.

Last year, the U.S. Forest Service launched its revision process that would inform management decisions for the next 15 to 20 years.

The Biden administration's focus was on climate change resiliency, KTOO reported in May. Rabb said she was pleased about that, and that the previous administration had prioritized the Tongass as an "Indigenous place."

But she had "very little faith" that the revision would be completed by the Trump administration.

Other stakeholders are urging that it stop — for now.

The Alaska Forest Association — a trade association representing Alaska's timber industry — suggested last week that the revision should be paused until "clear direction" is available "given the rapid changes" occurring at federal agencies.

"It seems that a great deal of effort, by preciously limited personnel, will be expended on a process that is very unlikely to see finalization in any substantive form," said the association's executive director, Tessa Axelson, in a public comment.

Axelson did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

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