Alaska holds million acres of roadless forest, a third of everything the Roadless Rule covers.
Nearly all of it is in two national forests: the Tongass in Southeast Alaska and the Chugach around Prince William Sound. Alaska is unlike the Lower 48. It has almost no roads, no federally designated critical habitat in these forests, and a long legal fight over whether the rule applies at all. So this page tells Alaska's story with Alaska's own data: remoteness, salmon, old-growth forest and logging history.
Two forests, and the most contested roadless land in the country
The Tongass has been in and out of the national rule several times. It is covered today, and the proposal to rescind the rule would end that protection along with the rest.
Show the legal timeline for the Tongass
2001. The Roadless Rule is issued and covers the Tongass.
2003. The Bush administration agrees to exempt the Tongass from the rule.
2011. A federal district court vacates the exemption, restoring protection to about 9.2 million acres. In 2014 a divided appeals panel reverses that, and in July 2015 an 11-judge Ninth Circuit panel rules the exemption illegal.
2020. The Trump administration issues a final rule exempting the Tongass.
January 2023. The Forest Service reinstates roadless protection across about 9.2 million acres of the Tongass.
2025–2026. The administration begins rescinding the rule. A proposed rule and environmental review are released on August 18, 2026.
Typical distance from roadless land to the nearest Forest Service road
Median distance, by region. Alaska's figure is for Tongass and Chugach roadless land combined.
Share of Alaska's roadless land within each distance of a Forest Service road
Salmon streams run through the roadless land
Salmon streams that run through roadless land, by species
Streams in roadless landOther streams in the forest
Number of distinct catalogued streams where each species is recorded. A stream can host several species. Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Anadromous Waters Catalog (2026).
Old-growth forest
Productive old-growth forest in the Tongass
Acres of productive old growth (Forest Service size-and-density map) overlapping roadless areas. These are upper bounds: forest patches that straddle a roadless boundary are counted whole, which can add up to roughly 8% at the edges.
Logging has fallen sharply, but not always outside roadless land
Acres logged on the Tongass, by decade
Outside roadless areasInside areas now inventoried as roadless
Forest Service harvest records for Forest Service land, by the year work was completed. 93% of all acres were clearcuts. "Roadless" means the 2001 inventoried roadless areas.Show data table
What could change in 5 and 10 years
For Alaska we can set a pace from the Forest Service's own harvest records instead of assuming one. These "what if" cases ask how many acres the Tongass would see logged if it returned to a rate it has actually had. Choose how far ahead to look.
Time ahead
Bars use one scale for both time horizons.
You can weigh in
The proposed rule and its environmental analysis are open for public comment until October 6, 2026. Specific comments that describe places, species or experiences you know are the most useful.