Updated at 8:59 p.m. ET The Trump administration is proposing to exempt Alaska's Tongass National Forest from long-standing protections against logging and development, opening the door for potential timber harvesting on 165,000 acres of old-growth forest. The proposal, announced Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture , comes in response to a request from the state, which wants to be fully exempted from a Clinton-era rule that limits road construction and timber harvesting in tens of millions of acres of national forest. State officials, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), have asked the Trump administration for a "full exemption" from the 2001 Roadless Rule, which limits road construction and timber harvests. They argue that the protections are stifling the local economy. "We have to be able to have a plan that is specific to us," Murkowski told Alaska Public Radio in August , explaining that she spoke with the Trump administration early on about addressing the Roadless
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