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...it is densely forested down to the waters edge with trees that never
seem to have suffered from thirst or fire or the axe of the lumberman...
– John Muir, Travels in Alaska, 1915
 At
17 million acres, the Tongass is America's largest National Forest,
a jumble of mountain peaks, glaciers, free-flowing rivers, muskeg,
forest and fjords. Beautiful, lush and remote, Alaska's rainforest
is the largest remaining pristine temperate rainforest on Earth,
a last remnant of an increasingly rare ecosystem.
Within
these wild places, salmon stuff the streams every spawning season,
and wolves, bald eagles, and Alaskan brown bear thrive in endless
rhythm and beauty, as Muir observed. But salmon, grizzly and other
wildlife in the Tongass are at increasing risk from the pressures
of clearcut logging that severely damages fish and wildlife habitat.
In 1915, when John Muir visited southeast Alaska, the U.S. Forest
Service was already calling for the rapid liquidation of the ancient
forest in the Tongass. By 1964, the Forest Services plan for the
Tongass called for clearcutting 95 percent of the forest as soon
as possible. For decades industrial clearcut logging has harvested
the ancient forests of the Tongass at unsustainable rates. Only
about 11 percent of Alaska's rainforest has been logged to date,
but more than half of the best timber stands which are also the
best wildlife habitat have already been cut.
Ninety-five years ago, Teddy Roosevelt established the 5.5-million-acre
Chugach National Forest for the conservation of fish and wildlife
resources. The Chugach is one of the world's last remaining intact
temperate rainforests, with healthy salmon populations and abundant
wildlife. Within the Chugach, the Copper River Delta sustains one
of the most prized wild salmon runs in the world and is the largest
wetlands complex on the Pacific coast. Prince William Sound, site
of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, is cloaked by rainforest surrounding
fjords where glaciers plunge to the sea. The Kenai Peninsula serves
as an important refuge for at-risk populations of brown bears and
wolves.
Despite an outpouring of support for protection of the Tongass and
Chugach, the Bush administration continues to pursue logging in
these roadless areas. Last year, the Forest Service released a management
plan for the Chugach that fails to protect the Copper River Delta
and other biologically important areas. The agency's draft plan
for the Tongass, also released last year, leaves more than 9 million
acres open to timber companies for logging and roadbuilding.
Photo: Bears at Tongass National Forest
Photo courtesy US Forest Service.
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