CHUKCHI
SEABERING
SEAPACIFIC OCEANARCTIC OCEANGulf of AlaskaALASKA CANADARUSSIA0
0 100 200 300 kilometers100 200 300 miles(^60) N Tongass
National
Forest
Hall Anderson/AP Images
a. This temperate rain forest (light green area) is in southeastern
Alaska along the Pacific Ocean.
b. A view of vast stretches of old-growth forest in the Tongass, as well as swatches
that have already been clear-cut.
Alaska’s Tongass National Forest
CASE STUDY
The Tongass Debate over
Clear-Cutting
Despite its northern location along Alaska’s southeastern coast,
the Tongass National Forest is one of the world’s few temperate
rain forests (Figure a; also see Chapter 6 for a description of the
temperate rainforest biome). It is one of the wettest places in the
United States. This moisture supports old-growth forest of giant
Sitka spruce, yellow cedar, and western hemlock, some of which
are 700 years old. This 6.9-million-hectare (17-million-acre) forest,
the largest in the National Forest System, provides habitat for a
wealth of wildlife, such as grizzly bears and bald eagles.
The Tongass is a prime logging area because a single large
Sitka spruce may yield as much as 23.6 m^2 (10,000 board ft) of
high-quality timber (Figure b). The logging industry forms the basis
of much of the local economy but conflicts with environmental
interests seeking to avoid overharvesting. Regeneration of mature
forest after it is clear-cut can take several centuries.
As in most other national forests, it is expensive to log in
the Tongass. To cover high operating costs, timber interests
such as pulp mills rely on obtaining the timber from the federal
government at below-market prices. This right was granted
in 1954 by a contract that expired in the 1990s. In 1990,
congressional efforts to pass the Tongass Timber Reform Act,
which would force timber interests to pay market prices, were
bitterly opposed. The compromise agreement, reached in 1997,
provided timber to the mills at market prices. As a result of this
legislation, clear-cut logging continued in the Tongass, but at
lower rates than in the past.
In 1999, the Tongass Land Management Plan of 1997 was
modified after several dozen appeals were filed against it. The
modified plan protected an additional 40,500 hectares (100,000
acres) of old-growth forest from logging, bringing the total
protected area in the Tongass to 95,000 hectares (234,000 acres),
and increased timber harvest rotations from 100 years to 200
years in specially designated wildlife areas. This change reduces
the impact of forest fragmentation and protects the Sitka black-
tailed deer population, used for food by native tribes.
In 2008 a new amendment to the Forest Plan for the Tongass
Forest was announced. This plan replaces the 1997 Tongass Land
Management Plan and provides direction for managing the land
and resources of the Tongass National Forest based on current
laws.
✓✓THE PLANNER