In March, U.S. District Court Judge John W. Sedwick in Anchorage sided with the village of Kake and reinstated the Clinton-era Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska. The judge found that the Bush administration decision to exempt the Tongass was arbitrary and capricious. The rule protects roadless areas in national forests from commercial logging and road building.
On Tuesday, Sedwick issued his final judgment. It reinstates the roadless rule in the Tongass while making clear that certain projects and activities can proceed. Those projects include roads and timber removal for energy projects and selling dead or downed wood for firewood.
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