Members of the Tongass Advisory Committee (TAC) ended a series of meetings last week in Ketchikan, finalizing its recommendations on an updated management strategy for the country’s largest national forest.
The TAC was formed 16 months ago to review the United States Forest Service’s draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for amending the current Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan. The management plan amendment is in response to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s directive in July 2013 to transition timber harvest in the Tongass National Forest away from a predominately old-growth timber harvest to using young-growth timber resources.
TAC had reached a consensus on its draft recommendations in May, which were taken into consideration by the USFS when putting together its draft EIS. Released Nov. 20, the draft EIS offers five alternatives, of which Alternative Five was based on the TAC’s recommendations and received the committee’s unanimous recommendation last week.
“It went well,” commented Carol Rushmore, representing Wrangell at the table. The TAC was made up of 15 members, representing the interests of local government, Native tribes, the timber industry, environmental groups and other users.
“We really had to work through a bunch of issues,” she said. But members found common ground and are now working on a draft plan amendment before TAC formally concludes Feb. 10, 2016. The committee is also working with the Forest Service to transition monitoring to an independent Tongass Transition Coalition.
The establishment of a monitoring council has been deemed critical by USFS for the management plan’s implementation. Reviews would be conducted at the end of every five years to measure the effectiveness of the flexibilities in meeting co-intent goals. At these reviews, USFS would work with the monitoring council and other stakeholders to tweak and update its strategy.
Under the EIS released last month, Alternative Five would promote transition to young-growth management in development-designated areas over a period of 15 years. Harvest in old-growth designated habitats would only be allowed during this period. Even then, only patch cuts of up to 10-acre openings or commercial thinning would be permitted, with no more than 35 percent removal. On beach and estuary fringe a 200-foot no-cut buffer adjacent to the shoreline would be required.
Among the action alternatives, Alternative 5 would provide the second smallest amount of combined old and new timber volume, but would have the second largest amount of young-growth volume in the suitable base. Timber would be harvested at a rate of 46 million board feet (MMBF) per year, meeting the projected timber demand. Emphasis would be placed on young growth while old growth would be progressively minimized. So during the first 10 years of the transition an estimated 9 MMBF of young growth and 37 MMBF of old growth would be harvested each year.
For the last five years, an average of 25 MMBF of young growth and about 21 MMBF of old growth would be produced each per year. Alternative Five would likely reach a full transition harvest of 41 MMBF of young growth by year 16. Young growth harvest is expected to continue to increase from there at a rapid rate, reaching an upper limit of 88 MMBF by about year 23. The old-growth harvest rate would be held at 5 MMBF per year to support small sales.
In areas identified for use, on and around Wrangell Island some moderate and intensive development would be permitted, with some federally-managed acreages south of town and along traffic routes in the Back Channel maintained as scenic viewshed. Woronkofski Island would similarly be maintained as scenic, while Kadin Island to the north would be maintained for research purposes and much of South Etolin preserved as wilderness. Forest on Zarembo Island and North Etolin would be allowed some mixture of moderate and intensive development.
Rushmore said her main concern is maintaining industry in the region, as a combination of regulation and legal action have contributed to lost economic opportunities for Wrangell.
According to Southeast Conference’s 2015 “By the Numbers” report on the economy, the timber industry is small, but was still one of the few sectors in the region to add jobs in 2014, employing 328. Timber workforce earnings also increased slightly, to $17.2 million.
However, the industry is far from where it was back in 1991, when timber jobs peaked at 3,543. The region lost 3,200 direct industry jobs during the ensuing decade, and now is even smaller than it was in the early 1900s.
The number of board feet harvested annually has fallen by 96 percent from their peak in the 1990s. The large mills have all since closed down, and most regional timber jobs are today divided between two organizations, Sealaska and Viking Lumber on Prince of Wales Island. Smaller mills and family-owned operations also continue to operate.
The Tongass National Forest is the largest such forest in the country, covering 16.7 million acres in Southeast Alaska. Managed by USFS, some 3.4 million acres of the forest are set aside for development land use, allowing commercial timber harvesting. The remaining 13.3 million acres are designated as wilderness (5.9 million acres) and natural setting (7.4 million acres).
Resources related to the TAC’s work are available online at http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/ton
gass/home/?cid=stelprdb544
4388. Resources for the
proposed land management amendment are likewise available at http://www.fs.usda.gov/
detail/tongass/landmanage
ment/?cid=STELPRD3801708. The draft EIS will remain open for public comment through Feb. 22, 2016.
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