Congressmen Steve Chabot (R-OH) and Robert Andrews (D-NJ) are expected to introduce a bipartisan appropriations amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill on Thursday to block funding for new logging roads in Alaska's Tongass National Forest.  The amendment seeks to put a stop to decades of wasteful spending by the Forest Service to plan timber sales and supply timber for which there is little market demand. 

The Economics

The Forest Service has a history of overestimating market demand for timber in the Tongass.  This practice opens more land to logging than the market can bear, and degrades previously intact watersheds and forest habitat.  These practices not only waste as much as 40 million taxpayer dollars each year, they also ignore, and threaten, the value of healthy wildlands - resources upon which the majority of southeast Alaska's economic sectors, including tourism, recreation, and commercial fishing, are increasingly reliant.

Alaska's forest products industry has long been, and will continue to be, at a competitive disadvantage relative to other regions.  Because of its unique geography and distance from markets, labor, transportation, operations, and manufacturing costs are much higher for the timber industry in southeast Alaska than in other comparable regions, such as the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia.  Also, the Tongass is comprised of a mix of species, many of which have lower market value.  Large spruce trees have historically been the most valuable species, but most of these have already been logged.  As big trees in the Tongass become more difficult to access, and the global marketplace is creating more affordable timber sources that are competing with Alaska, the demand for Tongass timber has been on a steady decline.  There is no evidence to suggest that demand will increase.

Missed Opportunity

The Tongass is a scenic wonderland of old-growth forests, clear rivers, rocky coastlines, and abundant wildlife, including bears, moose, wolves, mountain goats, all five species of Pacific salmon, and more than 300 species of birds. It is one of the few temperate rainforests found on Earth. The forest's healthy streams, clean water, wildlife habitat, scenic views, and special places that are important for tourism, recreation, hunting, fishing, education, scientific research, cultural activities, and subsistence food gathering were recently quantified in an economic study by The Wilderness Society.  The report found that even with fairly conservative assumptions, the estimated economic value of these aspects of the Tongass far outweigh the value of the timber industry.  In fact, a conservative estimate of the total economic value of the Tongass National Forests is about $3 billion annually - 30 times more than the forest products industry contributes to the economy.

As long as the Forest Service's logging activities are subsidized, the agency will continue to propose forest management alternatives grossly out of step with the economic realities of the regional forest products industry and alternative sources of economic development for the region.  Instead of focusing on timber, the Forest Service should be looking ahead to the true economic engines of Southeast Alaska: for example, nature-based tourism, commercial fishing, amenity based development, and restoration.

It is time for the Forest Service to recognize the economic realities of Southeast Alaska.
The Chabot/Andrews amendment is one step in the right direction towards a future for the Tongass Forest and Southeast Alaskan communities that makes good economic sense.

Please Consider Writing an Editorial Making These Points

The Wilderness Society's Economic and Ecological Research Department recently completed two economic analyses, which provide details about the dwindling demand for Tongass timber, and the significant economic value of protected wildlands. 
 
You may contact Spencer Phillips, Senior Resource Economist, The Wilderness Society (802-895-2979), and/or Pete Morton, Senior Resource Economist, The Wilderness Society (303-650-5818) for more detailed economic information and copies of these reports.

Sincerely,

Anne Gore
The Wilderness Society
Alaska Regional Office
907-272-9453