State plans to allow logging on habitat and recreation lands in Haines State Forest

Alaska's forestry division said in a notice posted Oct. 1 that it intends to adopt a revised plan for the Haines State Forest that would allow commercial logging on land classified for wildlife habitat and recreation, keeping that change despite objections from conservation groups and other commenters.

Logging on those lands would be allowed only "when those actions contribute to the values for which those lands are classified," the division wrote. Each timber sale would still go through its own public review.

The public has until 5 pm Nov. 2 to comment on the plan before it goes to the Department of Natural Resources commissioner.

The forest covers about 260,000 acres near Haines. Under the plan, about 74,000 acres would count toward its timber base, the land available for commercial harvest. About 21,000 of those acres are habitat and recreation land.

The local fish and game advisory committee wrote that the timber base is now about 42,000 acres, and that the plan would raise the yearly allowable harvest from about 5.9 million board feet of timber to about 14.8 million. The plan says that works out to about 600 acres a year.

Lynn Canal Conservation counted at least 10 areas where timber sales would be allowed for the first time, including Mosquito Lake, Chilkoot Lake and West Chilkat Lake.

The division says the change brings the plan in line with the purposes the Legislature set for the forest. Prohibiting harvest there "does not align with the statutory primary purpose," the division wrote in its response to public comments.

Lynn Canal Conservation reads the law differently. Opening the entire forest to timber harvest "runs counter to the founding legislation," wrote Jessica Plachta, the group's executive director.

The division turned down requests to pull specific areas out of the timber base, keep a moratorium on timber sales in the Kelsall River watershed and protect old-growth stands. Old growth is a subjective term that would need different definitions across the forest, the division wrote.

Asked for a cumulative impacts study of the Chilkat, Chilkoot and Ferebee watersheds, the division said that work is beyond its responsibilities and that it doesn't have the staff or money. Another entity could take it on, the division wrote.

Some commenters supported the plan, the division's summary shows. Others, including some critics, asked the state to keep small timber sales for local sawyers and permits for residents to cut house logs and firewood. The division agreed.

The Chilkat Indian Village in Klukwan asked for changes of its own, including at Chilkat Ridge, which sits directly across from the village and is already designated for commercial timber harvest. The tribe wanted it reclassified as wildlife habitat.

Kimberley Strong, the tribe's president, wrote in June that the ridge has been a harvesting area for her people for thousands of years. "Physically, and spiritually, Chilkat Ridge feeds us," she wrote.

The division declined, saying the plan makes no land classification changes, in recognition of the planning that went into the forest's first plan in 1986. The tribe also asked that partial cuts and selective harvesting be favored on habitat and recreation lands. In some cases, the division replied, an even-age harvest may be the best way to support those lands' values.

The division did agree to add a cultural resources section the tribe recommended. It bars timber operations within 150 feet of known cultural sites unless the state Office of History and Archaeology, consulting with the division, determines some activities can happen without significantly affecting the site.

The tribe had asked for 300 feet and a role for affected tribes in that decision. The division said it doesn't have the authority to add tribal consultation to the archaeology office's process.

The division also rewrote the plan's carbon section. It keeps carbon offset projects open on land in every classification, adds carbon management leases and says projects can't keep the forest from supporting long-term timber production or block access for traditional uses. A new section adds guidance for managing the forest as the climate changes.

New comments on issues the division has already answered won't get another response. New issues will be answered when the plan goes to the commissioner. The division hasn't said when the plan will be final.