The nation’s number one and number two in size National Forests are in Alaska. The Tongass, mostly in Southeast and the Chugach, mostly in South Central. Sitka Spruce is the dominant tree in both forests. It takes up to 800 years for a Spruce tree to reach maximum age. Many Alaskans agree that the aesthetic value of thousands of square miles of beautiful old growth rain forest for our visitation industry far exceeds any financial benefit derived from short term logging.
In addition, spawning streams and rivers for Alaska's five species of wild stock salmon are located throughout these forests.
Historically, logging has been detrimental to the stream habitats for these salmon. It is not only the US Forest Service's problem, native corporations have sold off their timber for a song as well, no value added, just transported to Asia in the "round". If one is in doubt just sail portions of Prince William Sound and witness the huge expanses of clear cuts that make war bombed Nagasaki look attractive.
If you cruise Alaska, and have second thoughts about all this, then speak up, after all it is your tax dollars at work denuding "your" landscapes.
"Managing the Tongass for timber, an industry that accounts for not even 1 percent—less than 400—of southeast Alaska’s jobs. More profitable industries, on the other hand, such as tourism and commercial fishing, together generate more than $2 billion in revenue annually and employ more than 10,000 people in the region. The Trump administration’s move to expand logging in the Tongass follows decades of the federal government subsidizing timber sales in the national forest, often to the tune of more than $20 million per year. These subsidies became news yet again this summer when a controversial southeast Alaska timber sale, promoted heavily by the USFS, received no bids, despite significant federal subsidies that included USFS investments of $3.1 million in new roads. Despite the expense to taxpayers, the USFS estimated the sale would generate just $200,000 in revenue."
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2018/10/03/458961/fraud-in-the-tongass/
