The Tongass National Forest
The Tongass National Forest
|
|
|
"The Last Best Place" - Explore the Tongass National Forest and learn why the Minneapolis Star Tribune has named it one of the world's three last best places to visit.
|
General Information
The Tongass National Forest in the coastal archipelago of southeast Alaska is the
last great expanse of old growth rainforest in the United States. It is home to
ancient trees and brown (grizzly) bear and bald eagle populations that thrive in
the vast and wild reaches of the forest. Wild and ancient runs of salmon return
each year to the Tongass, feeding eagles, bear and other wildlife species and
providing unexcelled commercial-, sport-, and subsistence fishing opportunities.
But the natural beauty and abundant wildlife of the Tongass have long been
threatened by harmful clearcut logging. Until the mid-1990s, two companies enjoyed
exclusive, long-term contracts to cut ancient trees for wood pulp. These two
contracts dominated Tongass management for years, resulting in excessive and
unsustainable logging levels. Subsequent to a long-term decline in the world price
of wood pulp, the pulp mills are now closed and the contracts canceled.
In May of 1997, the U.S. Forest Service issued a land management plan for the
Tongass. During the planning process, scientists from within and outside the Forest
Service warned that continued clearcut logging in large blocks of old growth forest
areas poses a serious threat to fish and wildlife. The Agency's own economists have
concluded that demand for Tongass timber is at an all-time low and is expected to
remain so for at least the next ten years. And, of more than 19,000 public comments,
more than 70% supported lower levels of logging and greater protections for fish and
wildlife. In short, new scientific and economic information, coupled with the
cancellation of the long-term pulp contracts and overwhelming public sentiment, have
created a critical moment of opportunity on the Tongass.
Unfortunately, the Tongass Forest Plan runs counter to scientific recommendations,
public opinion, and new economic data. The Plan threatens the future of this
incomparable wilderness by authorizing levels of destructive logging against
the recommendations of prominent scientists. The Plan, which a federal court recently found violated the law, allows logging in previously
undisturbed areas, and contrary to new economic data and strong public opinion, it prioritizes logging in roadless areas of the forest over other more sustainable uses of the forest.
Other Information
| |
| |
Last modified
2006-04-27 09:09
