“This is a huge victory for Alaskans and their families who depend on economic development in the Tongass,” said Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell.

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule, established in 2001 by the Clinton administration, prohibits road-building and logging on 58.5 million acres of national forest lands, including a 9.6-million-acre swath of the Tongass. The Bush administration, however, exempted the Southeast Alaska forest from the conservation measure.

This exemption was challenged and in 2011 U.S. District Judge John Sedwick determined that the Bush-era exemptions were unlawfully implemented and reinstated the so-called “Roadless Rule” in the Tongass National Forest.

In a 2-1 decision, the 9th Circuit overturned the lower court ruling. The appeals court determined that the Forest Service provided valid reasons for exempting the Tongass, including the changes in economic predictions and the high socioeconomic costs in Alaska.

“Although this rule has already done irreparable harm to the timber industry and small communities in Southeast Alaska, this win will allow Alaskans to start building the industry back up. I will continue to aggressively stand up when federal agencies tread on Alaskans’ rights and Congress does not act,” said Gov. Parnell.

In addition to timber, the Tongass Forest hosts two operating mines – Hecla’s Greens Creek silver mine and Coeur Mining Inc.’s Kensington gold mine. A number of other mining projects, including the Niblack volcanogenic massive sulfide project being explored by Heatherdale Resources Ltd. and the Bokan Mountain rare earth element project being advanced by Ucore Rare Metal Inc., are also found there.