30x30 should start with the Tongass
Finally, some good news for the Tongass. The Biden Administration announced last week that they planned to do something to fix the Trump Admin’s exemption of the Tongass from the Roadless Rule. Honestly, their language of “repeal or replace” is a bit ambiguous for my taste, but either way, it’s a relief to know that we will get a fresh take on the Roadless Rule decision.
Since that announcement, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what these past several years of fighting for the Roadless Rule have meant. Roadless has been protecting millions of acres of the Tongass for two decades, and despite the complaints of Lisa Murkowski and a couple of export clearcut businesses, it has been working just fine for Southeast Alaskan communities.
People have worked so damn hard to stave off the Trump Admin’s attacks on the Tongass, it’s been an incredible showing of commitment from communities, tribal leaders, and conservation nonprofits. And now, 4 years later we’re right back where we started. It seems likely that the Biden Administration will conduct another public process for the Roadless Rule, and all of us will have to show up once again to reiterate that the Roadless Rule works, we want old-growth forest to be protected, we value fish and wildlife, we value the beauty and resilience of this place. All of this just to maintain a rule that has been working for twenty years.
It can feel like a waste of time.
But here’s the positive side to all of this. In these last few years, Southeast Alaskans have shown where we stand on the Tongass. We overwhelmed US Forest Service meetings and public comment periods. We passed community resolutions, participated in tribal consultation, marched in the streets, and made art. We’ve made it clear: Southeast Alaskans support protections for the Tongass.
Community support gives the Biden Admin permission to make bold moves to permanently protect the Tongass.
What I am hopeful for, is not simply reinstating the Roadless Rule, which offers impermanent protections for ancient forests, but something bigger, permanent, and reflective of current reality.
The Biden Administration should move quickly to establish a carbon reserve system, and the Tongass National Forest should be the first entry into this system. This would go a long way toward achieving the United State’s recent commitment to 30x30.
30x30 is an international effort to protect 30% of land and 30% of the ocean by 2030. This is a necessary action to mitigate the climate crisis and address the cascading biodiversity losses which are being called the nature crisis. (1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction).
One of the coolest things about 30x30 that it’s NOT top-down conservation, but rather community-led conservation. The principles for 30x30 are laid out in the Biden Admin’s America the Beautiful report, including commitments to honoring tribal sovereignty and local economies. It’s worth checking out these principles, and if you do, you’ll see that 30x30 is a modern take on conservation.
The details of how we’re going to get to 30x30 as a nation are not exactly clear. Community-led conservation is a slow and deliberative process.
However, when it comes to the Tongass we already have a clear directive from local communities, and from the nation as a whole. During the Roadless Rule public process 2 years ago, 96% of public comments from across the United States were in favor of protecting the remaining stands of old-growth in the Tongass.
There’s the political will to protect the Tongass, and if the Biden Administration wants to make a real impact with 30x30, there’s literally nowhere better to do it than the Tongass.
The Tongass holds 44% of ALL of the carbon sequestered in national forests.
Not only does the Tongass hold almost half the carbon in our national forest system, but this forest is also arguably the most resilient to the impacts of climate change. In other words, protecting the Tongass, is a sure bet for long-term carbon sequestration. Arriving at the international climate conference (COP26) in November, with a commitment to permanently end clearcut logging in the Tongass would be a powerful move to show that the US is serious about mitigating climate change and fulfilling our promises to the international community.
LEARN MORE:
Outdoor Alliance published a helpful report on 30x30, what it is, and how to get involved. Their report is geared towards outdoor recreationists but is helpful context for anybody.
Wild Heritage published a report on protecting the Tongass and other ancient forests as part of the US climate agreement commitments.