US officials seek public comment on AK roadless rule

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Trees soon may be cut down in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, and federal officials want the public’s input on the matter.

A new rulemaking process for an Alaska — specific version of the Roadless Rule — which prevents timber harvest and the building of roads on 0.01 million square miles (0.03 million square kilometers) of roadless lands in southeast Alaska — is now open for public comment.

A notice published last week in the Federal Register, the official journal of the federal government, opens the first official venue for the public to voice its opinion on what openi...