The Nolan Center was littered with maps of the Tongass National Forest Sept. 5. Members of the Wrangell and Petersburg Ranger districts came by to hold a public meeting on the Central Tongass Project, a series of proposed long-term renovations in the area.
Dave Zimmerman, with the Petersburg Ranger District, explained that the Central Tongass Project covers both the Petersburg and Wrangell districts, an area that stretches across the Wrangell, Mitkof, Kupreanof, Kuiu, Zarembo, and Etolin islands, as well as a section of the mainland. According to documents provided to the public at the meeting, the project is looking to improve things in four broad categories: Watershed restoration and improvement, vegetation management, access management, and sustainable recreation management.
“The main difference between this project and others is that we’re looking at activities, as opposed to a specific site,” Zimmerman said. “In the past you would have a site and you would want to do this activity … Here, we’re looking at all sorts of different activities, in fact 13 activities that were identified from our pre-scoping meeting.”
These activities range from stream and floodplain restoration, to treatment for invasive species of plants, to the construction, deconstruction, and maintenance of recreation facilities, to the harvesting of timber. Zimmerman said that the Central Tongass Project is looking at beginning and completing these activities over a 15-year period. He also said that the idea of putting all these activities under one project was to be more efficient.
“In the past we would have a NEPA process for, let’s say, a trail or a cabin. That might take a year or two years to do, it would cost thousands and thousands of dollars,” he said. “If you’re looking at a timber project that might take, historically it’s taken four or five years, maybe more, and even more money spent. This is to clear all those activities between now and 2020, and then we’ll be implementing it after that.”
More information about the Central Tongass Project can be found online at http://www.fs.usda.gov/tongass under “Projects” in the “Land and Resources Management” tab. Comments on the project can be submitted online, as well. Written comments can be sent to Project Leader Carey Case at P.O. Box 1328, Petersburg, AK 99929 or delivered in-person to the Petersburg District Office during normal business hours.
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