Downtown Juneau as seen from the Mt. Bradley Trail in July 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Downtown Juneau as seen from the Mt. Bradley Trail in July 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Land swap to lead to logging in Southeast

Deal aims to protect some areas, log others

The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority board approved a land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service, with the aim of getting timber projects off the ground in Southeast.

Wyn Menefee, the executive director of the AMHTA Trust Land Office (TLO), said it’s the biggest land exchange in the trust’s history. Though the exact amount of land still has to be worked out, the AMHTA Board of Trustees approved the exchanged that will send more than 20,000 acres of USFS land to the trust for more than 18,000 acres of trust lands throughout Southeast.

Menefee said the trust is hoping to make money off its newly acquired lands with timber harvesting. According to the TLO website, the lands could yield between $40 and $60 million over the next 20 years. Lands going to the Forest Service will be protected, Menefee explained. The overall aim of the land exchange is to protect viewsheds while logging less-sensitive lands to earn money for the trust.

As part of the exchange, the trust is giving nearly 2,700 acres of land on Douglas Island — land that includes the Mount Bradley (Mount Jumbo) Trail — to the Forest Service. Menefee said the Forest Service is not allowed to do logging on the lands it’s receiving as part of the deal.

“The Forest Service won’t be doing any timber cuts on it,” Menefee said. “It will most likely be managed for recreation.”

Forest Service representatives were not able to be reached for comment, with to the public affairs staff being on furlough due to the partial federal government shutdown. Calls, emails and texts to multiple spokespeople were not returned.

[Mental Health Trust spending time, money on subport property]

During the AMHTA’s public board meeting Thursday, the main focus was about the possible value of logging in the area of Naukati Bay on Prince of Wales Island. According to the AMHTA’s website, the TLO is working to complete a timber sale to Viking Lumber for old-growth timber in the Naukati Bay area. This 100-million-board-feet timber sale is expected to yield about $15 million to the trust over 10 years.

“Naukati is prime timber land,” AMHTA Senior Resource Manager Paul Slenkamp said during the meeting. “We spent a lot of time to identify lands that will be long-term value to the trust and provide ongoing revenue.”

AMHTA might also receive more than 8,000 acres at Shelter Cove near Ketchikan and about 1,500 acres near Hollis on Prince of Wales. Menefee explained via email Thursday that it’s still up in the air whether they get those parcels. The trust must get an equal value for the land it gives in an exchange, Menefee explained.

Appraisers have yet to complete their appraisals of all the land involved in the exchange, and the amount of land the trust gets depends on how much the land on both sides of the deal is appraised at.

It’s also not clear whether all the land the trust gains will be used for timber, Menefee said. Naukati will definitely be used for timber, he said, but if there are more lucrative uses for other lands they get, they’ll look into those.

“Timber harvest is one of the primary ways that the trust can monetize its assets but other potential revenue generation options will always be considered,” Menefee said via email.

The land exchange will be done in two phases, with the initial exchange happening later this month (the date depends on when the government shutdown ends) and with the second phase happening next year, Menefee said. The parcel on Douglas will be part of next year’s exchange. The trust has committed about $6.3 million to working on the land exchange, according to the meeting materials.

The board’s approval is one of the last steps in a process that has taken more than a decade. The exchange required both state and federal legislation. President Donald Trump signed a federal bill called S.131 into law in May 2017. Former Gov. Bill Walker signed Senate Bill 88 into law in October 2017. Both of those bills authorized the exchange. Now the board has to send a letter to Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer and he can put the state law into effect.

[Environmental groups object to different Prince of Wales timber sale]

The federal bill states that the primary goals of the exchange are to preserve the natural beauty of Southeast while also creating jobs and serving the goals of the AMHTA. The trust authority has land throughout the state, and its main purpose is to manage those lands in a way that brings in money to give to Alaskans with mental illness, developmental disabilities, chronic alcoholism, traumatic brain injuries and more.

Menefee said he felt this was a “win-win” for the trust and the Forest Service. At the signing ceremony for the state bill in 2017, Walker and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski used the same phrase.

“Because of this exchange,” the Ketchikan Daily News quoted Murkowski as saying, “we have protected viewshed, we have allowed for support for our timber industry because of the exchange and again, provided a valuable resource to the Alaska Mental Health Trust.”




• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.


The Mt. Bradley Trail in July 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

The Mt. Bradley Trail in July 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

More in Home

The Juneau Huskies, seen here taking the field for the second half of an Aug. 24 home game against Service High School, prevailed in a road trip game Friday night in Bishop, California, defeating Bishop Union High School 17-6. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Juneau defeats Bishop Union High School 17-6 as lots of players make lots of key plays

Huskies survive as the fittest in “caveman football” game during California road trip.

Nutaaq Doreen Simmonds (left) and Xáalnook Erin Tripp star in the play “Cold Case,” focusing on issues involving Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons, which is now performing at Perseverance Theatre. (Akiko Nishijima Rotch / Perseverance Theatre)
Perseverance’s ‘Cold Case’ tops NYT’s list of ‘15 Shows to See on Stages Around the U.S. This Fall’

Award-winning play about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons showing in Juneau until Sept. 22.

Workers at the Alaska Division of Elections’ State Review Board consider ballots on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, at the division’s headquarters in Juneau. At background is the Alaska State Capitol. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
After Alaska’s primary election, here’s how the state’s legislative races are shaping up

Senate’s bipartisan coalition appears likely to continue, but control of the state House is a tossup.

Police and other emergency officials treat Steven Kissack after he was fatally shot on Front Street on Monday, July 15, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
UPDATE: Bodycam footage of Steven Kissack shooting, results of state investigation scheduled for release Tuesday

Videos, originally scheduled for Friday release, delayed until JPD gets state report, police chief says.

Workers construct a greenhouse behind the Edward K. Thomas building during the summer of 2021. The greenhouse is part of a food sovereignty project by the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, which this week received a $15 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection agency to establish or expand composting operations in five Southast Alaska communities including Juneau. (Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska photo)
Tlingit and Haida gets $15M EPA grant for composting operations in five Southeast Alaska communities

Funds will establish or expand programs in Juneau, Wrangell, Hoonah, Petersburg and Yakutat.

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo
State Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau, speaks during a rally on behalf of Alaska residents with disabilities at the Alaska State Capitol on March 1, 2023.
Bills by Juneau legislator adding official Indigenous state languages, upgrading dock safety become law

Safety bill by Rep. Story also contains provision by Sen. Kiehl expanding disaster aid eligibility.

Nutaaq Doreen Simmonds (foreground) and Xáalnook Erin Tripp star in the play “Cold Case,” focusing on a story involving Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons, which is scheduled to make its stage debut Friday at Perseverance Theatre. (Akiko Nishijima Rotch / Perseverance Theatre)
Play revealing unseen struggles of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons debuts at Perseverance Theatre

“Cold Case” features story of rural Iñupiaq woman trying to recover aunt’s body from Anchorage.

Bartlett Regional Hospital leaders (foreground) present details of their request for financial support to keep hospice, home care and residential substance abuse recovery programs operating during a Juneau Assembly Finance Committee meeting Wednesday night. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Funding for hospital’s hospice, home health and Rainforest Recovery programs get Assembly support

Plan includes Gastineau Human Services expanding to accommodate Rainforest’s substance abuse treatment.

Most Read