Washington, October 18 (RHC)-- The Donald Trump administration has proposed opening up millions of acres of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest to logging -- a move environmental activists say threatens the largest intact temperate rainforest in North America. 

Earlier this week, Trump told federal officials to reverse long-standing protections against tree cutting in the area.  Critics say logging would threaten not only the ecosystem, but also the forest’s profitable salmon fishery and tourism industries.

The Tongass National Forest, located in Southeast Alaska, is the largest national forest in the United States at 16.7 million acres.  Most of its area is part of the temperate rain forest WWF ecoregion, itself part of the larger Pacific temperate rain forest WWF ecoregion, and is remote enough to be home to many species of endangered and rare flora and fauna.  The Tongass, which is managed by the United States Forest Service, encompasses islands of the Alexander Archipelago.