"Tongass in Alaska To Get Federal Roadless Protection"

"The federal rule protecting the nation's last remaining stretches of roadless wilderness will apply now to the largest and grandest of the national forests under a court ruling in Alaska, which threw out the exemption granted to the Tongass National Forest.

Ruling in Anchorage, U.S. District Judge John W. Sedwick invalidated an exemption crafted under the Bush administration that had been intended to boost the crippled timber industry in Southeast Alaska by allowing access to stands of timber in remote sections of the forest.

The Tongass, stretching over 17 million acres of emerald islands and azure waterways, has long been prized for its stunning stands of towering old-growth trees, which also are home to bears, wolves, salmon, bald eagles and other wildlife."

Kim Murphy reports for the Los Angeles Times March 7, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"Roadless Rule Reinstated on Alaska's Tongass National Forest" (ENS)

"Restrictions on Logging Are Restored" (New York Times)

"Conservation Groups Weigh in on  'Roadless' Outcome" (Juneau Empire)