President Trump quietly issued a directive Wednesday that will allow logging and road construction throughout the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, one of the world’s largest temperate rain forests in the world, the Washington Post reports. The change will take effect Thursday.
Tongass is called by environmental scientists “the lungs of North America” due to the amount of carbon it traps and the quantity of oxygen it produces.
Trump’s order removes protections for all 16.7 million acres of the national forest, allowing clear cutting the old-growth stands of red and yellow cedar, Sitka spruce and Western hemlock–some of which have grown for a millenium.
The move comes at the request of Alaska’s Congressional delegation, who claim that allowing for logging and road development will boost the state’s flagging economy. Cruise ships in the region have dropped precipitously, and fisheries have been impacted by climate change.