Timber

Most of the harvest will be old-growth trees, which some people worry will be devastating to the forest.

At local meetings, people have voiced confusion over the process – and about how they were supposed to weigh in on the issue without seeing the current draft.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced this summer it was moving to rescind the Roadless Rule, a 2001 law that protects large swaths of National Forest land from development. 

At the Southeast Tribal Environmental Forum in Juneau this week, tribes and environmental groups discussed strategies to keep the rule in place.

Members of the the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee stopped in Juneau Monday to talk about expanding logging and mining in Southeast Alaska.

China’s ban on U.S. log imports has had sweeping effects on companies that harvest logs in Alaska and ship them overseas.

The Roadless Rule has flip-flopped multiple times since it was established to protect undeveloped lands, including areas of the Tongass National Forest, in 2001.

Timber companies allege that the Forest Service failed to fulfill a promise to supply the companies with enough timber to meet market demand. But the government asserts it didn’t promise that.

The company is seeking permits to build a log transfer facility and storage site in Haines’ Lutak Inlet, a popular spot for commercial and subsistence fishing.

The initial Thomas Bay timber sale proposal was for about 22 million board feet. But after a few years of public process, that has shrunk to 12.6 million board feet to be harvested through a patchwork of areas over several years.