 June 28, 2003
Murkowski expressed support after the Forest Service earlier this week announced that if the Tongass becomes formally exempted from the roadless conservation rule, the government's goal is to "move toward about five, ten-year timber sales" in the Tongass, offering up to half of the available timber in these longer-term sales. The Forest Service reaffirmed its goal to have three years of economical timber supply under contract in the forest at any one time. "This is truly good news from the Forest Service that has been far too long in coming. It will help Southeast residents make informed business decisions and really help the chances for a long-term viable timber industry in the region. It is good news indeed for Ketchikan, Wrangell and Prince of Wales residents," said Murkowski. The Alaska Delegation for years has been working to encourage the Forest Service to offer a more dependable supply of timber in the region - the lack of a firmer supply of timber being a detriment to plans for a veneer plant or other new development in the 17-million-acre forest. The Forest Service under the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) is permitted to offer sales of up to 10 years in length, but the Clinton Administration for eight years refused to consider offering such contracts in the Tongass. In a letter to the Delegation and to Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski, Dennis Bschor, the Regional Forester for Alaska, said the Forest Service currently has 600 million board feet (mmbf) of timber in 29 sales in some phase of preparation for the Tongass. Currently only about 213 mmbf are cleared for release, while 387 mmbf of sales are under review to see if they can be modified to meet all current forest regulations. Bschor added the Forest Service is going to start work to plan an additional 200 mmbf of sales. "While the rulemaking to address the roadless rule will be completed this fall we anticipate that appeals and litigation will follow the final rulemaking. In the meantime (we) will prepare [about 200 mmbf] in the roaded land base so that a sustained timber volume can be made available to the current industry," wrote Bschor. Murkowski commended the Forest Service for issuing its new sales goals. She said the policy should help the Forest Service offer more economically viable timber sales that will help the timber industry make money, while returning a profit to taxpayers. "Any business needs a predictable supply of raw materials in order to plan for profitable operations. This decision will fully protect the environment, while allowing Alaska timber operations to plan for their future," she said. The decision comes after the
Forest Service announced on June 9 it would begin a rulemaking
proposing to exempt both the Tongass and Chugach National Forests
from the national roadless rule. Under the 1997 Tongass Land
Management Plan, 96 percent of the forest is already off limits
to logging. The rulemaking would open 300,000 acres to be considered
for timber harvest that otherwise would have been off-limits
under the national roadless rule - permitting an annual harvest
in the Tongass of between 220 and 267 mmbf a year - about 40
percent of what Alaskans were promised would be allowed when
the Alaska lands act passed in 1980.
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