Though the self-manufactured crises of being president have taken up most of Trump’s time over the past two-and-a-half years, he remains a developer at heart, treating the West as a vast land bank to dole out parcel by parcel
The Tongass National Forest. Photo: Sergi Reboredo/Universal Images Group via Getty As the world’s largest rain forest is subjected to a one-man plan of mass deforestation and faces the possibility of a terrifying but accurately named “dieback” scenario, the Amazon’s northern ally, the Tongass National Forest — the world’s largest intact temperate rain forest — may be forced to open up half of its 16.7 million acres to logging, energy, and mining development.
According to a report from the Washington Post, President Trump has told Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to find a way to exempt the protected Tongass in Alaska’s panhandle from the logging restrictions known as the “roadless rule,” which was established by the Clinton administration. One Trump staffer who spoke with the paper said forest policy has become “an obsession of his,” while Trump himself has said he has recently taken an interest in “forest management.
Like other “obsessions” in which the president’s limited financial acumen crashes into his limited understanding of the natural world, his hope for Tongass National Forest is to open it up as a vast logging opportunity. But the timber industry represents less than one percent of southeastern Alaska’s labor force: Seafood processing and tourism, industries immeasurably benefited by an intact Tongass, represent 8 percent and 17 percent of the region’s jobs.
The forest’s impact on salmon fisheries alone should be enough to let it be. Chris Wood, the president of the environmental group Trout Unlimited and a former Forest Service staffer who helped implement the “roadless rule” under Clinton, told the Post that the agency has “realized the golden goose is in the salmon, not the trees.
Though the self-manufactured crises of being president have taken up most of Trump’s time over the past two and a half years, he remains a developer at heart, treating the West as a vast land bank to dole out parcel by parcel. His current nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management — the agency that oversees federal lands — doesn’t think the government should have any.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The Log Cabin Republicans have just lost another leader after the organization endorsed Donald Trump.Jerri Ann Henry, the first female executive director of the organization, resigned after the LGBT Republican group endorsed Donald Trump.
Read more »
Trump Administration Wants To Legalize Firing Someone Because Of Their Sexual OrientationThe Trump administration has filed a brief with the Supreme Court basically reminding the justices that it's totally legal to fire a employee for being gay
Read more »
Trump Wants to Host Next Year’s G7 At One of His Golf CoursesTrump’s blatant advertisement for Trump Doral was one of several surreal moments of this weekend’s summit, where world leaders took pains to avoid triggering a presidential meltdown.
Read more »
Fox News host Jeanine Pirro says 'Democrat clown car' wants 'revenge' against Donald Trump'They're so angry that the Democrats didn't win,' Jeanine Pirro said during an interview with Fox & Friends.
Read more »
Trump claims Melania Trump has 'gotten to know' Kim, White House tries to clarifyThe White House on Monday tried to clarify President Donald Trump's statement that first lady Melania Trump has 'gotten to know' North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un.
Read more »
Trump says US may host next G7 at Trump National Doral Golf ResortPresident Trump is actively promoting his golf resort near Miami as a possible location for next year’s G7 summit, which is raising some concerns among ethics watchdogs about potential conflicts of interests. BrianToddCNN reports.
Read more »