A portion of the Forest Service's Land and Resource Management Plan map, developed in 2016, showing the different land use designations (LUDs) on Wrangell and Mitkof islands. The primary LUDS that are found on both islands include timber production, scenic viewsheds, modified landscape, and municipal watersheds. A copy of this map and for all of the Tongass National Forest, can be found on the Forest Service's website.
The Wrangell Ranger District of the Forest Service held a workshop at city hall last week to give the public a brief overview of the 2016 Land and Resource Management Plan. The workshop was led by Sue Jennings, forest planner for the Tongass National Forest. The Forest Plan, as it is also known, guides the Forest Service in managing natural resources in the Tongass National Forest.
"The Forest Plan is basically a zoning map with management prescriptions," Jennings said. "A zoning map, as you know, tells you where you can have industrial areas, where you can have multi-family dwellings, where you can have single-family dwellings, where you can have commercial businesses of any sort, that's what a zoning map tells you. The Forest Plan is the same way."
The Forest Plan has 18 zones, known as Land Use Designations, that categorize what certain sections of the Tongass National Forest can be used for. These LUDs only apply to National Forest System lands within each LUD, Jennings added. The LUDs range in development potential from wilderness, meaning the land should be left untouched and wild, to timber production where logging is allowed. According to Jennings' presentation, there are 14 different LUDs in the Central Tongass Project, which largely covers the Wrangell and Petersburg Ranger Districts.
Some of these designations are largely self-explanatory, such as "wilderness" and "timber production." However, some require a little more explanation, and Jennings went into more detail about them. For example, the "research natural area" LUD is meant to preserve areas of ecological importance for the purpose of research and education. The "municipal watershed" LUD designates certain areas as water supply reserves for local communities. One LUD, simply known as "LUD II," also requires explanation.
"Land Use Designation II is determined by an act of Congress," Jennings said. "These areas are set aside by Congress in perpetuity, and each one of them has direction according to how they were set aside, implementing direction, but generally speaking I always call it 'wilderness light,' because you can do a little bit more than you can do in wilderness but not a lot."
The Anan bear observatory, located south of Wrangell, is designated LUD II.
Besides zoning, the Forest Plan also establishes standards and guidelines for resource management, ranging from dealing with invasive species of plants, to timber sales, to air quality, and much more.
"The Forest Plan is a plan that is sustainable, meaning that the species we have today we expect to have 100 years from now," Jennings said.
A copy of the 2016 Land and Resource Management plan can be found online, as well as maps of the Tongass National Forest and the different LUDs within it. The Wrangell Ranger District can be reached at (907) 874-2323.
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