Earlier this month, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins wrote that the Tongass “can and should sustain healthy ecosystems and strong economies.” I agree. However, claiming that this hinges singularly on the success of timber, ignores the complexity of our region.
As a woman born and raised on my homelands and waters — I want to respectfully invite Secretary Rollins to visit, join our holistic approach, and meet the communities we both want to prosper.
When you visit, we will drive the roads I cruised with my father. As a logger, and road builder, he had a lot to teach about the industry. But he also taught me how to recognize when your neighbor needs a helping hand, how to care for the lands and waters that care for you, and how to be critical when somebody tries to sell you something that sounds too good to be true.
I will introduce you to our communities and forests. I remember playing with friends while bundles of logs carried by helicopters swayed above our heads. I remember our economy booming, but more vividly I remember the economy busting — families left overnight when work dried up, half my classmates gone, and the hillsides that provided for us for centuries changed forever.
Rural economy building is slow, deliberate work rooted in balance and reliant on diversity. Today, I see restoration crews in the forest, young people farming oysters for emerging industries, small mills innovating, carpenters focused on affordable housing, Tribal governments building greenhouses, artists and apprentices carving totem poles, new coffee shops feeding locals and a growing visitor industry, and fishermen hauling in the best seafood on earth.
When you visit Secretary Rollins, you’ll see that Alaskans sometimes disagree, but we are willing to see beyond politics, to support one another after a landslide, to chop and stack firewood for our elders, to bring cookies to our conspiracy theorist neighbor. I learned early from my Elders: sharing, reciprocity, responsibility, Haa Ḵusteeyí (our way of life). I will take you to a community potluck where you’ll have deer, salmon, and berries, all harvested off public lands. You’ll also find the logger, the teacher, the birder, the carver, the fisherman, the mechanic, and yes — that conspiracy-theorist neighbor — all passing plates together. That is the fabric of Southeast Alaska.
These are the people with boots on the ground, building a diversified economy for the last two decades, and recently this has included working in partnership with the USDA, Tlingit & Haida, Southeast Conference, and Spruce Root on the Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy (SASS). SASS was developed collaboratively to address a complex ecosystem of needs. So far the initiative has catalyzed 60 projects by ~30 local entities, generating 114 year-round equivalent jobs, with over $19 million in regional economic activity, and projects leveraging 2-3 dollars for every federal dollar invested.
These aren’t just numbers. They represent wage checks supporting families who’ve been here for generations, lands maintained, on-the-job skills for youth, trail-building, healthy salmon streams, and cultural vitality. While SASS may not have been perfect, we saw agency timelines shortened and locals asked first: “What do your communities need?” instead of bureaucracies imposing “solutions.” We must continue on a trajectory driven by community priorities, hand in hand with local organizations, governments, entrepreneurs, industry reps, youth, and land managers, for a stronger Tongass National Forest.
A local timber industry is a part of this — but it isn’t as simple as turning on the tap of old growth timber sales. Partners including the State, the timber industry, USDA Forest Service, conservationists, Tribal governments, and Native corporations are working as the Tongass Transition Collaborative toward a long-term holistic vision for timber based on a transition to young growth, investments in retooling mills, retraining workers, thinning stands and preparing for rotational forestry. We believe that a balanced economy, including timber, is possible, if we work together and there is no better time than now: The Trump Administration has demonstrated their propensity to act quickly in a way that other administrations never have.
We can’t wait to show you Alaska. Like the millions of visitors who fall in love with the Inside Passage, we know you will be inspired. But more importantly, we hope you will meet our people — gritty, tender, innovative, and resilient — who are determined to build a balanced economy that works for us in the long term.
Secretary Rollins, the invitation is open. We are ready to work with you.
Marina Keli’ikuli is the program director of the Sustainable Southeast Partnership, a program of Spruce Root. The Sustainable Southeast Partnership (SSP) is a dynamic collective uniting diverse skills and perspectives to strengthen cultural, ecological, and economic resilience across Southeast Alaska. She works on behalf of her community, people, and region, contributing to this deliberate work of balance, trust, and relationship building.
