Trout Unlimited has filed an administrative appeal with the U.S. Forest Service opposing the 149 million board foot Big Thorne timber sale proposed for Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. Released on July 1, the proposed Big Thorne timber sale is located on heavily-logged Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, an area with deer, wolf and salmon populations impacted from multiple decades of past logging. The Big Thorne sale would allow nearly 6,200 acres of old-growth and 2,299 acres of second-growth forest to be logged on the central part of the island. The area is sandwiched between existing clear-cuts. It is the largest timber sale in the Tongass National Forest since the region’s two large pulp mills closed in the 1990s. “Big Thorne, as it stands now, is a huge step backwards for the Tongass. Southeast Alaska’s economy revolves around fishing and tourism and this large timber sale directly threatens the jobs and revenue those industries produce. It makes no sense from an economic or ecological standpoint,” said Austin Williams, Trout Unlimited’s Forest Program Manager, who filed the appeal. Trout Unlimited, the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation group, notes in its appeal that Big Thorne threatens not only deer and other wildlife but important salmon and trout watersheds that are vulnerable on Prince of Wales. A large amount of salmon-producing habitat in the Big Thorne area is still recovering from past logging and road building. It is less resilient to environmental stresses and more vulnerable to erosion caused by logging-related landslides and road crossings, the appeal notes. The Forest Service, which largely manages the Tongass, describes the Big Thorne sale as necessary to help stabilize Southeast Alaska’s struggling timber industry as it transitions from old-growth manufacturing to second-growth production. TU’s appeal points out that the Forest Service has grossly overestimated the market demand for Tongass timber. In the final environmental impact statement for the Big Thorne sale, the Forest Service erroneously concludes that 429 million board feet of timber is needed to provide enough volume for a three-year supply to industry. However, the current six-year average rate of Tongass timber harvest is 27.4 million board feet annually and there’s already 114 million board feet under contract. At the current harvest rate, it would take more than four years to log the existing volume of timber that’s already under contract even without any new timber supplied from the Big Thorne sale. In other words, the sale is completely of proportion with the industry’s existing needs and market demand. Besides harming fish and wildlife habitat and adding unnecessary volume to the timber industry’s existing pipeline, Big Thorne would tarnish a significant swath of scenic landscape of the Tongass, an iconic temperate rainforest that draws over one-million visitors annually, fueling a $1 billion tourism industry. The agency has failed to recognize the negative economic effects Big Thorne could have on the tourism and fishing industries, according to the appeal. “Fishing and tourism are the real breadwinners for Southeast Alaska. They employ nearly 20,000 people and contribute $2 billion dollars to the regional economy every year. Timber, by contrast, employs slightly over 100 people and costs American taxpayers in excess of $23 million. The Forest Service needs to abandon this sale or scale it down significantly and move forward with its transition plan,” said Williams, referring to the Forest Service’s May 2010 pledge to rapidly move away from old-growth logging in the Tongass. Rather than continuing to push large-scale, old-growth logging in the Tongass, the Forest Service should invest in restoration of high-priority salmon watersheds and improve existing roads and stream crossings, the appeals states. It should also invest in projects designed to improve the recruitment of large woody debris. “The Forest Service should switch gears and move forward with projects that benefit fishing and tourism. As far as logging goes, it should offer timber sales that emphasize young-growth units and micro-sales that are designed to minimize impacts to fish streams, riparian areas and sensitive wildlife habitat,” Williams said. Read TU’s complete Big Thorne appeal here. In response to a July 3 announcement by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack about the Tongass National Forest, Trout Unlimited’s Alaska Director, Tim Bristol, said the department, which oversees the Forest Service, missed an opportunity to focus the Forest Service on the real economic driver in the 17-million-acre Tongass–salmon and healthy forest ecosystems, and the economies they sustain. “We appreciate the hard work that the Administration has put toward ending large-scale, old-growth logging on the Tongass, but this is a missed opportunity to recognize the Tongass for its true value. Salmon fishing supports some 7,200 jobs on the Tongass and is a billion-dollar-a-year industry. Tourism accounts for another roughly 10,000 jobs. Today the secretary said he’s going to allow another 10 to 15 years of old-growth logging on the Tongass. That threatens the healthy, unlogged watersheds and beautiful vistas that support Southeast Alaska. In a July 3 press release, Vilsack referred to a 2010 pledge by his department to transition out of large-scale, old-growth logging in favor of second-growth management on the Tongass. Known as the Tongass transition framework, the three-year-old plan called for a rapid end to large-scale, old-growth timber harvest while directing the Forest Service to support bright spots in the regional economy such as fishing, tourism, visitor services, mariculture and alternative energy. But Vilsack said it would take his agency more than a decade to move beyond old-growth logging. He noted that earlier this week the Forest Service released a nearly 150 million board foot timber sale called Big Thorne, the largest old-growth timber sale on the Tongass in recent years. “The Forest Service is trapped in an outdated model. Timber isn’t the economic driver it once was in the region. The fact is the Tongass is a salmon factory. It produces 70 percent of all salmon from national forests. Managing the Tongass for salmon should be the Forest Service’s primary function, not propping up old-growth logging for another 10 to 15 years. The fact that the secretary’s plan for the Tongass isn’t focused on salmon is deeply disappointing,” said Bristol. Commercial troller and long-liner Jesse Remund was also disappointed with Vilsack’s announcement. A second-generation commercial fisherman from Port Alexander, an island fishing village in the Tongass National Forest, Remund said it’s hard to comprehend why the Forest Service is still offering old-growth to loggers when the economy of Southeast Alaska is rooted in fishing and tourism these days. “The Forest Service has missed the mark. The Big Thorne timber sale and others like it are a huge waste. The Tongass’ rare, old-growth stands and the many salmon and trout-producing watersheds all over Southeast Alaska provide fish runs that are the envy of the world, especially in places where wild salmon have all but disappeared. The places the Forest Service plan to log sustain wild game like Sitka black-tailed deer that are a key subsistence food for families like mine. These old-growth stands are worth so much more when they aren’t clear-cut logged,” said Remund. While Vilsack said it would take more than a decade for the Tongass to end clear-cutting old-growth, the secretary noted that he would be adding staff and resources to speed the transition to second-growth harvest, directing the development of new second-growth and restoration projects, and taking other steps including a possible amendment to the Tongass Land Management Plan to hasten the process. “It’s good that they’re acknowledging that the pace of the transition is too slow. We encourage them to amend the Tongass forest plan and make the transition a reality. It’s past time for this agency to move staff resources and funding to start focusing on salmon as the top priority. That would be a good use of taxpayer dollars,” said Brad Elfers, owner of Alaska Fly Fishing Goods, a Juneau-based fly fishing business. by Austin Williams While the vast majority of Southeast Alaska has moved on, Alaska Governor Sean Parnell seems stuck in the past. And Senator Lisa Murkowski appears to be right there with him. At an oversight hearing before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday, Alaska State Forester Chris Maisch called for Congress to hand over two-million acres of the most productive lands in Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest to the State of Alaska, and to make the most valuable remaining old-growth timber in the Tognass available to be clear-cut logged and shipped overseas. Senator Murkowski, lending her support, blamed the decline of the Southeast Alaska timber industry on federal policies, environmental lawsuits and stringent regulations, ignoring the fact that for decades logging on the Tongass occurred at unsustainable levels and was only able to maintain itself due to massive government subsidies. She implied that if only the Forest Service increased the amount of clear-cut logging allowed on the Tongass, the Timber industry could return to its former past when two large pulp mills consumed vast volumes of the Tongass’ rare old-growth trees. It’s hard to believe the senator is so out of touch with what is going on in Southeast Alaska. The Parnell Administration’s demand that the American people hand over millions of acres of their wildest national forest to special interests is absurd. It puts ideology ahead of what is best for the economy and long-term health of the region. The last thing Southeast Alaska needs is a return to a massive old-growth logging program in the Tongass. Southeast is sustained by a healthy forest that produces tens of millions of wild salmon every year, providing more than 7,200 jobs in a billion-dollar salmon fishing industry. The region is also fueled by tourism, which creates more than 10,000 jobs that depend on beautiful scenery in its natural state, not unsightly clear cuts. According to Forest Service figures, the Tongass supports just 107 jobs in logging and milling at a cost to U.S. taxpayers of more than $23 million annually in timber and road expenses. That’s more than $200,000 per job. The Tongass is facing very real and tangible threats from those that wish to cast aside the most productive salmon watersheds and wildlife habitat on our public lands so they can liquidate its rare and valuable old-growth timber. It’s time for Congress and the Obama Administration to step up to the plate and ensure that we don’t reverse the progress made over the past few years in the Tongass. In May, 2010, the Forest Service pledged to transition away from large-scale old-growth logging in the Tongass and move toward young-growth forest products and supporting job creation in existing industries such as fishing, seafood processing, tourism, visitor services and alternative energy. Despite the promising statement from three years ago, the Forest Service has yet to make good on its transition pledge. Funding for visitor services, recreation and watershed restoration is woefully inadequate. The agency is still high-centered on old-growth logging. It has 130 million board feet of timber under contract to cut and plans to sell another 600 million board feet over the next five years. In his testimony on Tuesday, Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell noted that a 100 million board foot timber sale, dubbed Big Thorne, will be released soon. It would be the largest old-growth timber sale in the Tongass since the pulp mill days and a step in the wrong direction. Senator Murkowski and the State of Alaska painted a grim portrayal of Southeast Alaska in Tuesday’s hearing. Contrary to their notion that the region’s population and jobs are shrinking, Southeast Alaska’s population has been growing since its low point in 2007, according to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Some of the fastest growing communities are on Prince of Wales Island, an area once dominated by logging. According to an October 2012 report by the Southeast Conference, a regional trade group that monitors economic trends, the region’s total student count increased slightly in 2012 for the first time since 1996 and “the population of Southeast Alaska children, after a long steep decline, is finally on the rise.” Southeast Alaska has the largest seafood industry workforce in the state and, in 2011 and 2012, was the most lucrative region in Alaska for commercial salmon fishing, according to state government data. Rather than misleading people into thinking that the main barrier to job creation in Southeast Alaska is a lack of logging, Senator Murkowski and Governor Parnell should be championing the real drivers of the region’s economy: fishing and tourism, and the productive salmon watersheds and scenic beauty of the Tongass National Forest that sustains them. This story originally appeared in the Alaska Dispatch The Forest Service today made a very poor decision for Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the crown jewel of the country’s national forest system. Instead of implementing its 2010 transition plan that would move the 17-million-acre forest beyond large-scale old-growth logging, the federal agency — still stuck in the past — decided to offer nearly 150 million board feet of timber on more than 6,000 acres of old-growth fish and wildlife habitat for logging. Dubbed Big Thorne, it’s the largest timber sale in the Tongass since the days of the 1950s-era pulp mills that were guaranteed massive amounts of timber under 50-year contracts with the Forest Service. The area slated for new clear-cutting is located near Thorne Bay and Coffman Cover on Prince of Wales Island, one of the worst-hit areas on the Tongass by logging and road construction. If allowed to occur, the Big Thorne timber sale will further threaten the area’s salmon and deer populations and harm the burgeoning tourism industry on Prince of Wales Island. Rather than offering more rare, old-growth rainforest for logging, the Forest Service ought to be making good on its pledge to transition into the region’s growth industries: fishing, tourism, recreation, visitor services, mariculture and alternative energy, according to Trout Unlimited. “Given that Southeast Alaska salmon fishing supports more than 7,200 jobs and tourism supports another 10,000 jobs, and both are billion-dollar industries, it’s disappointing to see the Forest Service offer its largest old-growth timber sale since the pulp mills closed. This is a big step in the wrong direction for Southeast Alaska. It will further degrade several salmon streams, cause the loss of important deer habitat in an area where deer populations already fail to meet Forest Service standards, and end up costing U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars. Fishing and tourism are the real breadwinners in Southeast Alaska, and they depend on healthy salmon streams and wild scenery. The Forest Service needs to live up to the promise it made more than three years ago and put an end to this type of timber sale, ” said Austin Williams, Trout Unlimited’s Alaska Forest Program manager. According to Forest Service figures, the Tongass supports just 107 jobs in logging and milling at a cost to U.S. taxpayers of more than $23 million annually in timber and road expenses. That’s more than $200,000 per job. Members of the public who wish to voice concern about the Big Thorne timber sale should email Forest Supervisor Forrest Cole at [email protected] and Regional Forester Beth Pendleton at [email protected]. By Carl Safina A few years ago I visited Southeast Alaska and saw more salmon than I thought I’d ever see in my entire life. The question: will they be there for our next generation? Southeast Alaska is one of the last places in the United States where wild salmon still thrive. A place where a healthy, fully functioning ecosystem churns out tens of millions of these fish every year, employing more than 7,300 people in fishing, processing and guiding jobs. A place where salmon underpin the culture and lifestyles of people with ancestral ties to the region dating back 10,000 years or more. It’s a cold and mossy rainforest of giant cedar, spruce and hemlock trees with nearly 18,000 miles of salmon-filled rivers. Most of this place is designated the Tongass National Forest. This 17-million-acre forest covers most of Southeast Alaska and functions as a huge nursery for five species of wild Pacific salmon. At its most basic level, the Tongass is a salmon forest. I and more than 230 other scientists will be calling on Congress to protect Tongass salmon. The vehicle is a proposal to Congress to help protect the 77 most high-value watersheds for salmon that remain open to development. These 77 watersheds comprise nearly 2 million rainforest acres. The new effort is called the Tongass 77. Scientists, agency officials, fishermen and conservationists have determined that these are ”the best of the best” when it comes to producing salmon. These are high-yield waterways that year after year return high numbers of spawning salmon. They’re worth protecting. By that I mean managing them for salmon production as priority number one. This doesn’t mean they’re locked up and nothing else can occur from a jobs perspective. Under this proposal, income-generating activities ranging from mining to hydropower can happen if they’re consistent with the top management goal of conserving the natural habitat for wild salmon. If Tongass salmon are so healthy and rich in number, why do they need protection measures like Tongass 77? The history of salmon in the rest of the Pacific Coast, and in so many other parts of the world, tells the story. In states south of Canada, like California, Oregon and Washington, Pacific salmon no longer spawn in nearly half of their original spawning areas. A toxic mix of habitat loss from urban sprawl, agricultural run-off, dams, logging, privatization, and other stamps of human behavior have decimated salmon runs across the Pacific Northwest. Alaska, and specifically the Tongass which produces one-third of the state’s total salmon harvest, is the country’s last bastion of healthy salmon country. And even in the Last Frontier, a slew of threats loom over Tongass salmon, including land privatization proposals, logging, mineral development and climate change. The Tongass 77, if enacted by Congress, would help permanently protect at the watershed scale — meaning from ridge top to shoreline — a large block of what’s left of the country’s wild salmon habitat. It would help ensure the long-term viability of these fish. The Tongass 77 is a pro-active conservation strategy that makes sense for Southeast Alaska. Google the words Tongass and American Salmon Forest to find out how to get involved. Or go to americansalmonforest.org and sign on. (Safina’s post originally appeared on National Geographic’s Newswatch |
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