January is Roadless Month on The Wild Idea.

Throughout the month, we’re exploring the landscapes, communities, and ideas shaped by America’s roadless public lands — and what’s at stake as these protections face renewed threats.

Why? Because decisions being discussed right now affect public land forever.

Join us all month long for conversations about roadless landscapes across the country, from the Southern Appalachians to the Tongass, the Gila Wilderness, and beyond. Check back for new episodes, resources, and opportunities to engage all month long, and please follow us on social media or share this episode with a friend. 

Building durable, place-based economies rooted in restoration, fisheries, tourism, and cultural resilience.

As The Wild Idea concludes Roadless Month, hosts Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds turn their attention north — to Southeast Alaska and the Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the United States and the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest.

Covering nearly 17 million acres, the Tongass has become a focal point in national debates over old-growth logging, climate resilience, rural economies, and the future of the Roadless Rule. Few places better illustrate the stakes of these policy decisions.

Joining the conversation is Andrew Thoms, Executive Director of Sitka Conservation Society, who brings decades of experience working at the intersection of community, conservation, and economic transition in Southeast Alaska.
Together, they explore how the Tongass became ground zero for Roadless Rule conflict, why old-growth logging persists despite overwhelming scientific consensus, and how local communities are working to build durable, place-based economies rooted in restoration, fisheries, tourism, and cultural resilience.

The conversation grounds abstract policy debates in lived experience — examining how federal land management decisions affect rural Alaskan communities, Indigenous lifeways, wildlife habitat, salmon streams, and global climate systems.

Today we discuss:

• The Tongass National Forest as North America’s largest temperate rainforest
• Why Southeast Alaska is central to the Roadless Rule debate
• The history and legacy of old-growth logging in the Tongass
• How federal subsidies shaped the timber industry in Alaska
• Community impacts of boom-and-bust extractive economies
• Salmon, watersheds, and the ecological value of roadless forests
• Climate resilience and carbon storage in old-growth temperate rainforests
• Indigenous and community-led economic transitions in Southeast Alaska
• Why rescinding the Roadless Rule would have national and global consequences

Links & Resources

Connect with Andrew:

• Instagram
• Facebook

 Organizations & Advocacy:

• Sitka Conservation Society

Policy & Legislation:

• The Roadless Rule (U.S. Forest Service, 2001)
• U.S. Forest Service Tongass Management Plan

Places & Landmarks:

• Tongass National Forest
• Inside Passage

Andrew Thoms grew up in rural Upstate New York State. After studying Environmental Sciences at SUNY Plattsburgh, he worked for 10 years in Latin America as an environmental specialist in international development projects. Most of his projects focused on the interface between the sustainable use of natural resources and the conservation of tropical biodiversity. One of his favorite jobs was developing and integrating new techniques for cultivating coffee in an environmentally sustainable way on a Guatemalan Coffee farm that he managed for a few years. Andrew received a Master’s degree in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development at the University of Wisconsin where he concentrated his studies on conservation and economics. Andrew enjoys being outdoors hunting, birdwatching, fishing, and exploring.

Subscribe to our show on your favorite podcast player, and be sure to follow us on social media, too: we’re on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. We also send out a weekly newsletter with updates on our show: sign up for that list right here.