Juneau, AK —
A coalition of conservation groups, Alaska tribes, a commercial fishing advocacy group and an ecotourism operator today filed a request to intervene in a timber industry legal challenge that seeks to revive industrial old-growth logging in the Tongass National Forest.
The timber industry litigation, filed on March 6, asks a federal court to order the U.S. Forest Service to offer more old-growth trees for timber sales. The plaintiffs — the Alaska Forest Association, Viking Lumber Co., and Alcan Timber Co. — contend the Forest Service violated the law by announcing the Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy (SASS) in 2021 and not offering enough large old-growth timber sales to meet government-estimated market demands.
The groups seeking to intervene in the case argue that current forest management is legal and supports a sustainable regional economy that has flourished in recent years as the Tongass has started to recover from large-scale industrial logging. The groups also assert that current management is in line with what most Southeast Alaskans want for the region.
SASS, widely popular in the region, was an announcement describing the Forest Service’s intent to initiate a rulemaking to restore the Roadless Rule to the Tongass, identify investment opportunities to support regional priorities, engage meaningfully with tribes, and end most industrial old-growth logging.
Logging still occurs within the Tongass, but in recent years there have been fewer of the industrial-scale, old-growth clearcut sales the timber industry plaintiffs are seeking. The 2016 Tongass Forest Plan provided for a transition away from old-growth logging to a primarily young-growth industry. Recent timber sales have provided opportunities for logging young-growth used for construction as well as smaller old-growth sales for local mills. The Forest Service has also focused efforts on restoration and recreation projects in the Tongass that support fishing, tourism, and other regional priorities.
Today’s intervention motion comes from the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, the Boat Company, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, the Wilderness Society, the Organized Village of Kasaan, the Organized Village of Kake, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Earthjustice represents all of the parties, except for the Center which is representing itself. NRDC is also providing its own counsel, with Earthjustice as co-counsel.