Alaska objects to restoration of protection for Tongass National Forest
Although it's not the most famous forest in America, Alaska's majestic Tongass National Forest happens to be the largest, covering approximately 17 million acres, or about the size of West Virginia.Tongass is also a major American tribe carbon sink, responsible for 44% of carbon absorbed by national forests (national forests themselves absorb more than 10% of the United States' annual greenhouse gas emissions).
The Tongass also provides wildlife habitat important to the region's biodiversity and local economy, and is a sacred site to the indigenous peoples of Southeast Alaska. Subsistence fishing, hunting, and gathering are nearly ubiquitous rural practices; 80% of rural residents in Southeast Alaska Indigenous peoples such as the Tlingit and Haida people also participate in these activities. All six different glaciers contribute to freshwater availability in forest watersheds, which is essential to salmon populations and forest health. Salmon live in the ocean, but return inland as part of their life cycle. brings nutrition They invade forests and support the health of their ecosystems.
The region's salmon supply is essential to Indigenous food security and $986 million industry explain the surroundings 7,300 jobs in the region. This fishery, which combines recreational, commercial, and subsistence fishing with a hatchery, was valued at near the top. $5.6 billion 2018. The commercial salmon catch produced exclusively in the Tongass area is $68 million annually.
For these reasons, it is no wonder that the Tongass are embroiled in a legal battle over who has rights to the land: the Native Americans or the federal government.
![glacier and river view](https://news.climate.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/glacier-tongass-637x425.png)
![glacier and river view](https://news.climate.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/glacier-tongass-637x425.png)
Mendenhall Glacier, pictured here, is one of many glaciers in the Tongass National Forest.Credit: Henry Hartley Wikimedia Commons
complicated history
Current legal protections for the Tongass are: „Rules with no path“ Regulations enacted by the Clinton administration in 2001 that prohibit road construction and logging on approximately 60 million acres of national forest land. But in 2020, President Trump repealed that rule and allowed more acres of forest, primarily old-growth timber, to be logged. Although there was widespread public opposition to this exemption, Alaska's Republican Party lobbied heavily for this change and its potential to boost Alaska's economy. economyand the Trump administration proceeded to: abolition.
From November 2021 to January 2022, the Forest Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 112,000 public comsN.T. He primarily supports restoring protections to the Tongass National Forest. In January 2023, the Biden administration abolished the 2020 Trump administration-era system. Alaska Roadless Rulewill restore protection to the Tongass National Forest as part of a broader goal to protect and fix America's lands. trump era roll back.
Indigenous claims to land
![Profile of a totem pole with a forest in the background](https://news.climate.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/totem-alaska-637x425.png)
![Profile of a totem pole with a forest in the background](https://news.climate.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/totem-alaska-637x425.png)
A view of Totem Bight State Historical Park in Alaska. The totems in the park are restored or reproduced indigenous totems and are part of the park's monument preservation efforts. Credit: Gary Bembridge (via) flicker
Place names can connect a place with its long cultural history, or erase that history. Tlingit scholar Ishmael Hope spoke about the importance of indigenous land sovereignty in an interview with Glacierhub. When the government claims ownership of forests and renames them, he says, it breaks clan ties and cultural ties to the land. “The social and ritual lineage of a clan intersects with its geographical lineage through pathways and projects to make a living and live well off the land,” he says. The place names we use have the power to remind us of, or erase, the long cultural history of a place.
Since their arrival, settlers have not only altered parts of the landscape with roads and logging, but also changed names and laid claim to much of the land.The legal battle to get this land back has been going on since his early 1920s, when Tlingit lawyers William Paul Founded the first Native American civil rights organization.
of Return in 2023 It was praised by the Tlingit and Haida indigenous communities and recognized that there is more work to be done. Currently, Native interests control only his 2% of Tongass land, with the rest under federal jurisdiction. Much of the former Tlingit and Haida territory was relinquished by the Native Americans to the U.S. government in exchange for compensation and the establishment of certain Native Managed Areas under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. The claim was officially extinguished. (ANCSA).
The Tlingit people are now seeking a stewardship role in the region, not only to protect the Tongass's sacred sites, but also to sustain their own way of life. Part of this effort is the creation of indigenous corporations under ANCSA, which unite indigenous groups under an entity that can make financial claims. Despite new funding mechanisms like the Seacoast Trust, Indigenous communities still lack control over the lands they historically own.
In 2022, seacoast trust The organization was founded with a $10 million investment from Alaska Native Corporation Sealaska and millions of dollars from private donors, including the Bezos Earth Fund. The trust funds Native stewardship of lands in Southeast Alaska and is part of a larger partnership between the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska, Sealaska, the Nature Conservancy, and other organizations. is. This is an important step towards giving indigenous peoples more control over their lands. Although, Restoring protections for the Tongass National Forest would provide some relief to Alaska Natives, but it would be necessary to reduce future damage and ensure that the Tlingit and Haida nations can act as full partners in forest governance. , further efforts are needed.
The courtroom story continues
The Tongass story doesn't end here. On September 8, 2023, a coalition of Alaska organizations including the Alaska state government and electric utilities announced that lawsuit This may invalidate your newly restored protection. Part of the complaint alleges that the rule's road closures also prevent maintenance and construction of hydroelectric and geothermal projects that could replace the diesel power generation that much of the region currently relies on. There is.
The fate of the guardian is currently unknown. If the state seeks and obtains a preliminary injunction, protections may be suspended pending the outcome of the lawsuit. „We don't know what will happen if the state wins (the lawsuit), but we do know that everyone else will lose: the Southeast Alaska tribal nations, Alaskans, and the entire country,“ he says. michael burgeris a professor at Columbia University School of Law. Sabin Climate Change Law Center. „The Forest Service's decision is well supported by scientific, legal, and policy considerations and is fully consistent with policies in place for years before the Trump Administration lifted previous protections.„
Assuming protections for the Tongass National Forest are maintained, there will be some relief for Alaska Natives, local communities, and the Southeast Alaska ecosystem. In particular, it helps maintain the health of local fish stocks, which are essential to both the local economy and way of life. „You never know what's going to happen in court,“ Berger said. “But for me, this is a no-brainer.”
glacier hub is a climate communication initiative led by Ben Olave, an anthropologist at the Columbia Climate School. Many of GlacierHub's writers are students or graduates of the Climate School.