Coalition · Juneau, AK
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council
Southeast Alaska’s homegrown defender of the Tongass since 1970
12 staff + 9 volunteers62¢ to the workFounded 1970
Stand · Find your defenders
Who’s defending the Tongass?
1 case live in federal court over this place, filed 2024National forest in Alaska, 16.7M acres, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, designated in 1907.
The defenders
The groups doing the most work here
4 groups are on the record for Tongass, each tied to it by a source our editors read, in the order they carry the weight. The other 2 are likely to care: a guess from mission and footprint, with no source tying them to this fight. Give directly; nothing routes through us.
Leading the fight
On the ground
Advocacy · Washington, DC
Alaska Wilderness League
Works the Tongass and the Roadless Rule fight in Washington
21 staff + 850 volunteers70¢ to the workFounded 1993
Also in the fight
Legal · New York, NY
Natural Resources Defense Council
Party to the Tongass Roadless Rule litigation
829 staff + 5 volunteers76¢ to the workFounded 1970
Legal · San Francisco, CA
Earthjustice
Has litigated the Tongass Roadless Rule fights for two decades
698 staff + 33 volunteers81¢ to the workFounded 1971
Likely to care: a guess from mission and footprint, no source ties them to this fight
Advocacy · Washington, DC
The Wilderness Society
To protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places.
178 staff + 32 volunteers75¢ to the workFounded 1935
Legal · Tucson, AZ
Center for Biological Diversity
Won in federal court over this place
242 staff + 19 volunteers88¢ to the workFounded 1989
14 more work nearby but are not tied to Tongass on the record
On the ground in Alaska
Cascadia WildlandsTongass is written into their missionGrassrootsAlaska GeographicThey work only in AlaskaFriends GroupKachemak Heritage Land TrustThey work only in AlaskaLand TrustKenai Watershed ForumThey work only in AlaskaFriends GroupAlaska Community Action on ToxicsThey work only in AlaskaAdvocacyGwich'in Steering CommitteeThey work only in AlaskaTribal
More ways in
Native MovementThey work only in AlaskaGrassrootsNorthern Alaska Environmental CenterThey work only in AlaskaAdvocacyDenali Education CenterThey work only in AlaskaFriends GroupBrooks Range CouncilThey work only in AlaskaGrassrootsTanana Chiefs ConferenceThey work only in AlaskaTribalTrustees for AlaskaThey work only in AlaskaLegalNOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School)Working this regionStewardshipFriends of Alaska National Wildlife RefugesThey work only in AlaskaFriends Group
The situation
What’s happening to Tongass
The largest intact temperate rainforest left on Earth. Old-growth Sitka spruce cathedrals that took centuries to grow, storing more carbon per acre than almost any forest in America. About 9.3 million acres of it sit in inventoried roadless areas that the 2001 Roadless Rule still protects. USDA has proposed rescinding that rule nationwide, which would open those acres to road building and logging.
- 1907Established as national forest
- 2001Protected under Roadless Rule
- 2020Exempted from Roadless Rule
- 2023Roadless protections restored
- 2025Executive order directs Tongass Roadless exemption
- 2025USDA announces intent to rescind Roadless Rule
- 2026Proposed rescission rule and draft EIS published
- 2026Ketchikan Indian Community and two conservation groups sue to stop South RevillaUSDA Forest Service · July 7, 2026Earthjustice · February 2, 2026
USDA proposes rescinding the Roadless Rule
Source: Federal Register · August 20, 2026
No public comment window is open on Tongass right now. A call script is ready on the Public Lands Action Network, and the groups above are how the fight gets funded and argued in the meantime.
In the courts
The cases over this place
The dockets we track that name Tongass directly. Active first.
ActiveMiller v. U.S. Forest ServiceU.S. District Court, Alaska · filed 2024 · Docket ↗
WonAlaska Forest Association v. U.S. Department of AgricultureU.S. District Court, Alaska · filed 2025 · Docket ↗
WonOrganized Village of Kake v. United States Department of AgricultureNinth Circuit · filed 2011 · Docket ↗
WonAlaska v. United States Department of AgricultureU.S. District Court, D.C. · Docket ↗
LostIn re Big Thorne Project & 2008 Tongass Forest PlanU.S. District Court, Alaska · filed 2014 · Docket ↗
ClosedSoutheast Alaska Conservation Council v. U.S. Forest ServiceNinth Circuit · filed 2015 · Docket ↗
Our reporting
What we’ve published on Tongass
Your move
How to stand for the Tongass
GiveGive to Southeast Alaska Conservation Council
Straight to their own donation page. Your dollar never passes through us.
Their donation page ↗SpeakCall your representativesA ready call script on Tongass, plus any comment window as it opens.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapBuild my lineup around Tongass: the leading group here opens it, and the other seats fill from this record.
Tongass has defenders. It needs more.
4 groups on the record, 2 more likely to care, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council with 12 staff + 9 volunteers, 1 live case in federal court. That is who is holding it. Find your way in.