Wrangell assembly to intervene in Big Thorne lawsuit

Big Thorne timber sale map
Big Thorne timber sale map

The Wrangell Borough Assembly voted Tuesday to intervene in a lawsuit supporting the Big Thorne timber sale on Prince of Wales Island.

The U.S. Forest Service awarded a contract to a Klawock mill to cut 95 million board feet of timber between Thorne Bay and Coffman Cove. Several conservation groups are trying to stop what’s called the Big Thorne timber sale.

The Wrangell Borough Assembly voted to join businesses and municipalities in a lawsuit to push the sale through.

The assembly decided to spend $5,000 to intervene, or formally participate in the litigation. The assembly was also considering filing as a friend of the court, or offering its opinion on the timber sale if allowed by the court.

Assembly Member Daniel Blake said intervening is the best option.

“Entering as friend of the court is going to cost us as much, if not even more, than it would entering as an intervener. And it’s not even guaranteed that the court would allow us to do that,” Blake said.

Assembly members said they want to support this timber sale because of its potential to affect future cuts, including the proposed Wrangell Island sale. The Forest Service is still working on the environmental impact statement for a potential sale of 68 to 175 million board feet of timber on the island.

Assembly Member Julie Decker said $5,000 is a minor amount and is worth it to protect the local timber industry.

“When we’re talking about this sale to Viking, it affects our industry in the sense the industry really is integrated. We have a small mill that, many times, purchases logs from other people, from larger companies,” Decker said. “If those larger companies go away, and you know this is the one medium-sized mill remaining in southeast, it does affect the smaller mills.”

Assembly Member Stephen Prysunka was the only one to vote against intervention. He said there is no need to intervene because Craig and Ketchikan already did, and their concerns are similar to Wrangell’s.

“I would much rather hold on to that $5,000 and utilize it. Whether it’s something for the Wrangell Island sale that’s coming up, or that we’re able to even encourage some other activity that will utilize our timber. I am concerned about timber being shipped out in cants. I am concerned about timber going out in the round,” Prysunka said.

Wrangell residents sent letters to the assembly asking it to file as a friend of the court, and some residents wrote letters opposing intervention.

Resident Stephen Todd told the assembly he is against intervention in the lawsuit because half the logs would leave the state in the round.

“Jobs and opportunities go out with these unprocessed logs,” Todd said. “Most of the rest of these logs that are cut on the Big Thorne sale will be minimally processed. Many of the logs will be shipped out with just one side cut off of them to meet the export and processing requirements. And then they’ll be manufactured out of state.”

Todd added he would like to see a shift toward timber sales that would allow smaller mills to produce finished products in Southeast Alaska.

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