![]() A Canadian First Nation is suing to stop the reopening of the Tulsequah Chief mine, located in the Taku River watershed about 40 miles north of Juneau. The Taku River Tlingit First Nation filed the lawsuit against British Columbia’s environment minister, Environmental Assessment Office and Chieftain Metals Inc., the company seeking to reopen the 1950s-era mine. The Taku River Tlingit are seeking to void the environmental permit issued to the mine in 2002, arguing that it is outdated and also that they were not properly consulted about plans to restart operations at Tulsequah Chief. The permit, known as an environmental certificate, originally went to Redfern Resources, the prior owner of Tulsequah Chief. But when Redfern went bankrupt, Chieftan Metals took over the permit when it assumed ownership of the mine four years ago. Chieftan has been trying to raise money to restart the defunct mine since then. Tulsequah Chief has been releasing acid mine drainage into a tributary of the Taku River for some 60 years. Read more and listen to a radio story about the lawsuit. ![]() Coho, pink and chum salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout, and Dolly Varden char are benefiting from a recently completed restoration project on the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. Sitka black-tailed deer, wolves and black bears also stand to gain from habitat improvements in a watershed called Twelvemile Creek. Twelvemile is located on Prince of Wales Island, near Ketchikan. During an era of large-scale logging before modern timber regulations and laws were enacted, Twelvemile, like other easy-to-access river valleys, was hit hard by chainsaws and the construction of logging roads. Loggers downed old-growth trees right up to the banks, destroying important spawning and rearing habitat. Most large wood in Twelvemile prior to logging had decayed and flushed out of the creek, limiting the amount of pooling habitat salmon and trout need to survive and reproduce. With very few big trees left along the banks to replace the lost wood, the Forest Service and partners prioritized Twelvemile Creek watershed as an area of the Tongass that would benefit from restoration efforts used previously to successfully improve habitat in watersheds including Harris River, Staney Creek, Sal Creek, and Snipe Creek. The restoration project included thinning of young-growth tree stands to make the forest for accessible for wildlife. It also involved improving fish crossings and road conditions, and concluded with in-stream channel work in the summer of 2013. Matthew Anderson, a district ranger on the Tongass, said the effort is definitely paying off. “It was apparent during the 2013 hot, dry weather, when stream flows were critically low, that migrating salmon were utilizing pools developed with large wood additions during the 2012 restoration efforts,” said Anderson. “They were taking refuge there, and appeared to be crowding into these pools to survive the dry spell until flows increased and they could continue to migrate and spawn.” The National Forest Foundation and The Nature Conservancy partnered with the Forest Service on the project. The Tongass is the largest of the country’s 155 national forests. It produces 70 percent of all salmon that spawn and rear on national forest lands in the U.S. ![]()
Here are some excerpts from the article:A number of groups are working hard to ensure that old mistakes get remedied and new ones aren’t made. Trout Unlimited has taken a lead on the long term, involving forest streams and rivers used for spawning. “The Tongass Forest is THE salmon forest, a huge fish factory, and if managed correctly, it will continue to thrive for future generations,” said Trout Unlimited Alaska spokeswoman Paula Dobbyn. Fish and Game officials project that 132 million salmon will be caught throughout the state in 2014, with a huge portion harvested from waters surrounding Tongass trees. And a healthy forest ensures a healthy fish population. “Two-thirds of Tongass salmon and trout habitat is not congressionally protected at watershed scale—it’s still open to development activities that could harm fish,” said Tim Bristol, Trout Unlimited’s Alaska program director. “Our concern, beyond that of the environment, revolves around a healthy fisheries industry and it’s time for Congress to better protect that forest’s richest resource—wild salmon.” Read the full story. ![]() An important deadline is fast approaching for anyone who values public-use cabins, especially those in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. As you may have read, the federal agency that manages the Tongass is planning to close nine cabins within the Southeast rain forest. Officials claim that the cabins don’t get enough use and are losing money. Tongass recreational cabins offer opportunities for both residents and visitors to experience the beauty and solitude of America’s largest national forest and are a great base of operations for hiking, hunting, fishing, wildlife viewing and other outdoor activities. Although some of the cabins slated for closure experience low levels of use, given the overall value of recreation cabins to the public at large and their low cost of maintenance relative to the more than $20 million dollars lost on the Tongass timber program annually, one must question whether Forest Service priorities are in-line with those of American taxpayers on this issue. It seems allocating a little more federal funding for cabins and a little less for old-growth logging on the Tongass would be a better use of public money. You can learn more about the Tongass’ public-use cabins here. The deadline to comment is Friday, December 30. Comments can be emailed to: [email protected] ![]() Alaskans turned out in force this week at three public forums in Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula to voice strong opposition to proposed legislation that would weaken the public’s ability to have a say in how our salmon rivers are managed. Hundreds of people attended the meetings in Soldotna, Homer and Anchorage to tell the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that House Bill 77 must be dropped or completely re-written. The bill would eliminate the need for public notice when development activities are planned on state land in Alaska. It would give vast new powers to the DNR commissioner to issue general permits for development, such as mining, on state land as long it doesn’t cause significant or irreparable harm. Many who spoke at the meetings said the draconian measure seriously erodes the public’s right to participate in decisions being made about key Alaskan resources like salmon and clean water. “We are the original people. We have a right to speak” on these matters, said Peter Christopher, an elder from the predominately Alaska Native village of New Stuyahok. The bill, aimed at streamlining development permitting, is a priority for Gov. Sean Parnell. It is expected to be taken up early in the legislative session in Juneau starting next month. Read the Anchorage Daily News story or watch local television news coverage about the hearings. |
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