Alaska is auctioning 18 Fairbanks-area timber sales

The state is putting 18 timber sales up for auction near Fairbanks next month, more than double the eight it offered last fall — a sign of how much cutting the state is lining up in the Interior.

The Division of Forestry and Fire Protection will sell the parcels by live oral bidding at 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 21, at the Fairbanks DNR office. To bid, an operator needs an Alaska business license and has to put at least 10 percent of the opening bid down that day in cash or a certified check, with a signed contract and a performance bond due within 30 days of winning. Those upfront costs are part of why the field is mostly local loggers and small mills, and they help decide which of those outfits can realistically take part.

The auction is one piece of a larger plan. The division has finalized its 2026-2030 schedule of timber sales across the Tanana Valley State Forest and other state land, laying out five years of proposed harvest. Environmental advocates argue Alaska's timber program, Interior sales included, favors extraction over long-term forest health and carbon storage, and that locking in multi-year harvest schedules commits the state to cutting without stronger environmental standards.

A site visit for the Bonanza Creek salvage parcel is set for Aug. 7. Any sale that draws no qualified bid may be offered over the counter at its appraised value.