Conservationists are pushing back on a massive old-growth logging plan by the U.S. Forest Service, which would carve new roads through thousands of acres of Alaska's Tongass National Forest. The agency said the plan will revitalize the logging industry and improve habitat and ecosystems for native species.

The Revilla Integrated Research Project aims to log 4,000 acres of old-growth trees in the Tongass near Ketchikan, harvest 83 million board feet of timber and build more than 40 miles of roadway.

Image

Nathan Newcomber, Tongass campaigner for the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, said the development plan threatens the habitat of a number of animals. Newcomber pointed out even the Forest Service has acknowledged the risk.

"Deer, bears, wolves, birds like the Queen Charlie Goshawk," Newcomber outlined. "They also state that they acknowledge the significant likelihood of impact to subsistence, including on deer harvest."

There were at least 120 objections to the plan during a public comment period but the Forest Service said it intends to begin the work and address legal challenges later.

Southeast Alaska has been transitioning away from clear-cutting old tree stands in favor of what's known as young-growth logging, which Newcomber and other environmental advocates support, even though the practice now comprises only about 1% of the region's economy.

"To go back to this bygone era from the 1970s where you just clear-cut landscapes, it makes absolutely no sense. Nobody supports it apart from the extractive industry and politicians," Newcomber argued. "But local communities in Southeast Alaska, they want to protect what we have. It's our cultural way of life. It's the way that people live up here."

Southeast Alaska is also highly dependent on tourism to support local economies. Driven largely by cruise ship traffic, the region sees as many as 2 million visitors a year, according to Alaska's Southeast Conference.