Forest Service draft decision favors larger old-growth logging plan on Prince of Wales

The U.S. Forest Service intends to allow up to 26.4 million board feet of old-growth logging on northern Prince of Wales Island, under a draft decision that opened a 45-day objection period Friday.

Acting Tongass National Forest Supervisor Janelle Crocker's draft record of decision for the Twin Mountain II Timber Sale selects the larger of two harvest options. It does so even though the draft decision finds the project's effects "present a significant possibility of a significant restriction on subsistence uses of deer."

Logging would take place in the Staney area near Naukati and the Red Bay area, about 75 to 100 miles west of Ketchikan, over 10 to 15 years. The draft decision puts the harvest at about 1,738 acres. The plan calls for about 13 miles of new temporary road and reopening 33.3 miles of closed roads. No new permanent roads would be built, and no work is proposed inside the five inventoried roadless areas the project touches.

At least 12 rural communities use the area for subsistence, and the final environmental review lists 18 that have used it, from Coffman Cove and Craig to Ketchikan and Wrangell. Deer harvest in Game Management Unit 2, which covers Prince of Wales, has fallen below the state's objective of 2,700 deer. After testimony about declining deer, the Federal Subsistence Board in April closed Unit 2 deer hunting to non-federally qualified users from July 24 through Aug. 15 and cut their limit to one buck.

In August, the Forest Service approved logging on Revillagigedo Island that its own analysis said may significantly restrict subsistence deer hunting, and a tribe and two groups sued, Alaska News reported Aug. 28.

The Forest Service passed over a smaller option that would have cut about 15.0 million board feet from about 1,144 acres, stayed out of deer travel corridors and high-value winter habitat, and had 29 fewer stream crossings. The chosen plan estimates 111 to 119 timber jobs, 48 to 56 more than the smaller option, about a three-year mill supply and up to $6.54 million in labor income. Crocker said in a Forest Service release the project would support the timber industry in Southeast Alaska and provide jobs for Alaskans.

The draft cites a presidential executive order on expanding timber production. It says the amount of old-growth timber on Prince of Wales cleared through environmental review would rise from about 1 million to 27.4 million board feet.

Sarah Dahlstrom, manager of Viking Lumber Company, called the project "absolutely necessary for the survival of the timber industry." Objector James Taggart argues the roads would fragment subsistence deer habitat and asks the agency to choose no action.

Only people who submitted specific written comments earlier may object, within 45 days of the Oct. 16 notice. If objections are filed, a 45-day review follows; if none are, a final decision may be signed five business days after the period closes. A fisheries consultation is pending.