Lumber prices soared during the pandemic, sparking inflation fears. Just as quickly, prices then dropped, but that’s not the end of the story.
Timber
Alaska recruits former California official as top forester
Eng replaces outgoing state forester Chris Maisch, who served for 21 years before retiring in February.
White House moves to reinstate Roadless Rule for Tongass
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has published a regulatory notice that it plans to “repeal or replace” a Trump administration regulation from October that removed Roadless Rule restrictions in the Tongass.
As lumber prices climb, Alaskans increasingly mill their own
The price of lumber has more than doubled over the last year, and economists warn that trend may last.
Could rising timber prices aid the Tongass transition to second-growth logging?
Soaring lumber prices could be a boon for Southeast Alaska’s struggling timber industry. The pandemic has fueled the demand for both renovations and the new home construction market, and supply has not kept up.
Feds settle with environmentalists over Tongass lawsuit costs
But a federal judge agreed with the plaintiffs who argued that the federal agency didn’t follow the law when it approved the timber sales, because it hadn’t provided site-specific information on areas that could be logged.
Petersburg assembly skips legal debate over Roadless Rule exemption for Tongass National Forest
In recent years, the assembly has been pretty split over the topic, even voting down multiple resolutions for or against a Tongass exemption. In 2019, assembly members agreed to take no position on roadless.
Tongass holds more than 40% of all carbon stored by national forests
Analysis by the Woodwell Climate Research Center found that the Tongass National Forest holds 44% of all the carbon stored by the United States’ national forests.
State of Alaska, cities, business groups file to defend exemption of Tongass from Roadless Rule
Other parties defending the exemption include the city of Craig, statewide and Southeast chambers of commerce, electric utilities, shipping companies and resource development advocacy groups.
Point Baker woman co-produces film on Prince of Wales logging
A documentary film about the impacts of logging on Southeast Alaska’s Prince of Wales Island is starting to make its way through film festivals.