A federal judge appointed by President Barack Obama has blocked President Trump’s plan to open up part of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest to logging.
Judge Sharon Gleason, appointed by Obama in during his first term, wrote that the Trump administration did not adequately consider the environmental impact of the move as required by law and agreed with environmental groups that the Forest Service’s analysis of the impact had “serious shortcomings,” according to the Hill.
“What the court has cut short is flagrant attempts by the Forest Service to trample not only the remaining old-growth forest on Southeast Alaska’s most heavily-logged major island, but also NEPA, which is America’s bedrock law for protecting the environment from contrived decision-making,” a representative from Alaska Rainforest Defenders said in a statement.
Environmental groups filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court last May to stop logging in the Tongass National Forest.
“This is a brazen attempt by the Forest Service to rewrite the rules for the forest, and it’s coming at the expense of habitat on Prince of Wales Island that’s important for wildlife and for people and communities, for hunting, fishing, recreation, and tourism,” an attorney representing one of the plaintiffs said.
The Trump administration announced its intention to expand logging even further in Alaska in October in a move that earned support from Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
“This is important for a wide array of local stakeholders as we seek to create sustainable economies in Southeast Alaska,” the Republican senator, the chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said at the time.
96% of the industrial wood consumption in the United States comes from domestic supplies, according to government figures.
