State maps five years of possible Fairbanks-Delta timber sales

The state has mapped where logging could be proposed on the Tanana Valley State Forest and nearby state land around Fairbanks and Delta Junction over the next five years, publishing its final 2026-2030 timber sale schedule for the area.

The schedule is not permission to cut. It is a scoping list that makes a stand eligible for review — a best interest finding and a land-use plan, each with its own public comment — before anything is auctioned. By law, the state generally cannot offer a sale unless it first appeared on one of these lists, though sales under 160 acres, salvage, and post-fire emergency sales are exempt.

The list lands as cutting in the area continues at a steady clip. The state auctioned 19 sales across roughly 325 acres at Fairbanks and Delta last fall, and another 28-sale, 557-acre offering is pending final approval. It also follows the state's late-2025 revision of the Tanana Valley State Forest management plan, which reaffirmed timber production as the forest's primary purpose.

Proposed locations can be viewed on DNR's Forestry Resources Viewer or on paper at area forestry offices.