Flood of Comment Delays U.S. Plan on Tongass Forest in Alaska
9/12/96
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Flood of comment delays U.S. plan on Tongass forest
9/12/96
Copyright 1996 by Reuters
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuter) - The U.S. Forest Service's proposal to reduce
logging in the nation's largest national forest led to a record number of
comments that will take extra time to evaluate, officials said Wednesday.
The Forest Service expected to release a final Tongass management plan
later this month, Forest Service spokeswoman Pamela Finney said, but it was
wading through nearly 22,000 letters, cards and questionaire forms received
on the Tongass Land Management Plan.
Now, "What we're looking at is sometime later in the fall," Finney said.
It received more letters on Tongass than for any single forest plan in the
nation, exceeding even the 14,000 comments on the recent plan for
reintroducing wolves to the Yellowstone National Park area, the Forest
Service said.
Earlier this year the Forest Service released its plan to reduce allowable
logging in the Tongass and impose new protections for wildlife, salmon and
caves.
The 17 million-acre Tongass, which sprawls over islands, mountains,
glaciers, includes most of the southeast Alaska panhandle. Its rain-
drenched old growth stands are home to plentiful wildlife and ancient
archaeological artifacts that have been found in caves.
Environmentalists believe the ecological and cultural resources are
threatened by logging.
Logging supporters argued that the Tongass plan will stifle their industry
and harm the region's economy.
They sought a delay in adoption of the final Tongass plan to allow more
arguments on behalf of the timber industry.
In addition, Ketchikan Pulp Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Louisiana-
Pacific Corp, sought a 15-year extension of its long-term supply contract
for Tongass timber.
The dominant company in the Tongass timber business, Ketchikan Pulp holds a
50-year supply contract that runs out in 2004. The company said it would
have to close its Ketchikan, Alaska, pulp mill this year if it did not get
a contract extension.