Administration Is Exempting Alaska Forest From Protection By JENNIFER 8. LEE, NYTimes

The Bush administration announced on Tuesday that the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, the largest in the country, would be exempted from a Clinton-era rule, potentially opening up more than half of the 17 million-acre forest for more development and as many as 50 logging projects. …

The roadless rule was put in place after a two-year process that included 600 scientific studies and two rounds of public comments that generated almost two million responses, most of them in favor of the rule. …

The Tongass National Forest, with 16.8 million acres, has been particularly contentious because of its environmental symbolism as the only temperate rain forest on the continent.

“This is the rarest forest type on earth and it needs to be protected,” said Jeremy Paster, a forest campaign organizer for Greenpeace.