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B-238859 1 (2017-10-23)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadtxt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GAOU.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 B-238859 October 23, 2017 The Honorable Lisa Murkowski United States Senate Subject: Tongass National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Amendment This is in response to your letter requesting our opinion on whether the 2016 Amendment to the Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan (2016 Tongass Amendment or Amendment), approved by the Tongass Forest Supervisor on December 9, 2016, is a rule under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). For the reasons discussed in more detail below, we conclude that the 2016 Tongass Amendment is a rule under CRA.1 BACKGROUND Toncqass National Forest The Tongass National Forest is the largest of the 154 national forests. It comprises 78 percent of the land base in southeast Alaska.2 Of its approximate 16.7 million acres, about 10 million acres are forested. Of the forested acres, the Forest Service classifies approximately 5.5 million acres as being productive forest. 3 As a national 1 Our practice when rendering opinions is to contact the relevant a ency and obtain its legal views on the subject of the request. GAO, Procedures an Practices for Legal Decisions and Opinions, GAO-06-1064SP (Washington, D.C.; Sept. 2006), available at www.,qao.,gov/leqal/red-booklresources. We contacted the General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) who provided us with the agency's views. Letter from USDA to Assistant General Counsel, GAO, May 15, 2017. 2 See, USDA, Forest Service, Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan: Final Environmental Impact Statement, R1 0-MB-603a, at 3-454 (Washington, D.C.: January 2008). 3 GAO, Tongass National Forest: Forest Service's Actions Related to Its Planned Timber Program Transition, GAO-16-456, at 6 (Washington, D.C.: April 25, 2016). (continued...)

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