The Alaska timber industry is going from partner to plaintiff in a dispute with the Forest Service about the future of old-growth logging.
The Alaska Forest Association and two southeast Alaska timber companies are suing the Forest Service and the Agriculture Department to challenge a Biden administration effort that restricted old-growth harvesting in the Tongass National Forest in exchange for helping the industry switch to younger-growth trees.
The program, called the Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy, was meant to diversify the region’s economy and shift the wood products business toward areas of the Tongass that were harvested decades ago and are ready for a second cutting — if mills could be outfitted to handle smaller saw logs.
At nearly 17 million acres, the Tongass is the country’s biggest national forest, as well as one of the planet’s relatively few intact temperate rainforests. It’s also one the most prominent flash points in the national debate about protecting old forests that sequester carbon and help fight climate change — but doing so in ways that preserve local economies.
