Trump orders more logging in national forests, but impacts on Alaska's Tongass are unclear after firings

JUNEAU — President Donald Trump has issued several executive orders in recent weeks to expand logging in the nation’s forests, but stakeholders say the recent mass firings of U.S. Forest Service employees could hinder the administration’s plans in Alaska.

Trump’s actions are the latest chapter in a decades-long tug-of-war between conservation and development in Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest — by far the largest of the nation’s forests.

On his first day back in the White House, Trump signed an executive order to boost development of Alaska’s “extraordinary” natural resources. Inclu...