Tongass National Forest plan moves to young-growth timber

JUNEAU, Alaska – Plans for managing the nation’s largest national forest call for changes in timber harvests that one critic says will be “the demise of the timber industry.”

The Tongass National Forest released a management plan update Friday that it says emphasizes young-growth timber sales in the forest covering much of southeast Alaska over old-growth timber. The plan would allow for a logging rate that management says will meet projected demand.

Kristen Miller, with the Alaska Wilderness League, says the plan protects important places that support fishing and tourism. But she says her group wants a speedier transition to young-growth harvest.

Shelly Wright, with the Southeast Conference, says her early impression of the plan is that it will be “the demise of the timber industry as we know it right now.”