Alaska Forest Association v. U.S. Department of Agriculture

The federal district court for the District of Alaska dismissed a timber industry challenge to the 2021 adoption of the Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy (2021 Strategy) for the Tongass National Forest. The 2021 Strategy pledged to “end large-scale old growth timber sales” and “instead focus management resources to support forest restoration, recreation and resilience, including for climate, wildlife habit and watershed improvement.” The court ruled that the plaintiffs had no legal basis for the claim that the federal defendants failed to comply with the Tongass Timber Reform Act and implemented an ultra vires policy by failing to set a harvest level for timber that did not meet market demand. The court also found that a 2016 plan’s timber sale objectives did not create a legally binding commitment enforceable under the Administrative Procedure Act. In addition, the court rejected the plaintiffs’ contention that the 2021 Strategy was an action that required notice and comment rulemaking. On April 2, 2026, the plaintiffs filed notice of their appeal of the dismissal.

Alaska Forest Association, a timber company, and a timber sale operator sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Forest Service and the Agriculture Secretary and Forest Service Chief in federal district court in Alaska alleging that the 2021 adoption of the Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy violated the Administrative Procedure Act. They alleged that a 2016 management plan promulgated under the Tongass Timber Reform Act “promised” the harvest of old-growth timber from the Tongass National Forest and that the 2021 Strategy ended such harvest and shifted forest management resources “to support forest restoration, recreation and resilience, including for climate, wildlife habit[at] and watershed improvement” without going through proper rulemaking procedures. The <a href="https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/press-releases/2021/07/15/usda-announces-southeast-alaska-sustainability-strategy-initiates-action-work-tribes-partners-and">press release</a> announcing the Strategy had stated that “[l]arge old-growth trees in the Tongass are critical for carbon sequestration, addressing the climate crisis and maintaining the productivity and health of the region’s fisheries and fishing industry” and that the Strategy as “in line with the Biden-Harris Administration’s approach to climate-smart forest management and conservation nationally.”