25,000 public comments pour in on roadless rule

The U.S. Forest Service has received about 25,000 comments on a proposal that would exempt the Tongass National Forest from the roadless rule temporarily, Alaska Region spokesman Ray Massey said Thursday.

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The comment period on the proposed regulation closed last month. Comments are being analyzed as the agency's ecosystems planning staff works on recommendations to send to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which will make the final determination.

At issue is whether the Tongass should be exempt from the rule until a determination is made on a proposal to exempt the Tongass and the Chugach National Forest from the rule permanently.

The Clinton-era rule prohibits timber harvesting and road-building within about 58 million acres of the 192-million-acre national forest system. About 9.6 million acres of Southeast Alaska's 16.8-million-acre Tongass have been designated roadless.

The proposed regulations are part of the settlement of a 2001 lawsuit the state of Alaska brought against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The state argued that application of the roadless rule to Alaska national forests violates the "no more" clause of the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which divided conservation and development lands, and stipulated that no more land would be set aside for conservation.

The settlement called for two proposed regulations: one exempting the Chugach and Tongass forests from the roadless rule permanently, and the second exempting the Tongass from the rule temporarily until any permanent changes are made.

Massey said the comments have not been broken down into "for" and "against" categories because they are not viewed as votes.

"What we want is information upon which to make a decision. If you have a reason why it should go one way or the other, we want to know. If you just say, 'I like it that way' or 'I don't like it that way,' that's just a vote. We're not asking for votes. We're asking for information," Massey said.

He said most of the 25,000 comments were form letters on both sides of the issue.

"A form letter is a vote," he said.

The Forest Service staff is still analyzing the comments. It's not yet clear how many of them came from Alaska. Massey said more demographic information should be available at the end of the month.

The more substantive comments included arguments from both sides on a variety of issues including road-building, biodiversity, forest health, safeguarding watersheds, economic concerns and recreation.

Many of those who wrote in favor of the exemption argued that the Tongass Forest Plan includes many protective safeguards, and that the roadless rule is not necessary to protect wildlife and forest health.

Those on the other side argued that the roadless rule helps stave off global warming and protects genetic diversity and watersheds. They also argued that the state and federal governments are fighting a losing battle in their attempts to revitalize the timber industry through timber sales and that they should concentrate instead on industries such as tourism and recreation that are growing.

The Forest Service is still analyzing comments on the other proposed regulation.

• Masha Herbst can be reached at masha.herbst@juneauempire.com.