ANCHORAGE — The U.S. Forest Service is looking to expedite the transition away from old-growth timber in the Tongass National Forest, a plan Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski says should be postponed until necessary work is complete.
At a Tuesday hearing in Washington, Murkowski, who chairs the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, questioned whether the Forest Service could hold off on the project until a young-growth inventory and financial analysis is finalized. She asked if those could be completed to determine whether a transition is even feasible.
Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell argued that the plan should move forward and that the amendment to the forest plan, which calls for the switch to young-growth timber, be completed. He said the plan will sustain southeast Alaska’s timber industry, The Alaska Public Radio Network reported.
“Over time to transition to the young growth is the solution for us to be able to continue to provide (for) the integrated wood products industry in Southeast Alaska,” Tidwell said.
The transition is a mandate from federal agricultural officials to make Tongass National Forest more “ecologically, socially and economically sustainable,” according to a Nov. 16 letter to participants in the planning process from Forest Supervisor Earl Stewart.
Tidwell said forest officials are already working with stakeholders to develop new markets for young-growth timber.
“New markets are good, chief, but you still have to have trees that are mature enough to harvest,” Murkowski responded.
A group of Southeast Alaska fishermen and guides organized by Trout Unlimited attended Tuesday’s hearing. They are seeking protection under the Forest Service’s amendment for 73 areas of Tongass National Forest they say are vital habitat for salmon.
“We have an opportunity to get this plan amendment through in a way that provides some protection for high value fish watersheds,” said Austin Williams, of Trout Unlimited’s Alaska branch. “And we shouldn’t delay that out of concern for, you know, the inventory, at this point.”
