Three small-scale federal timber sales are going on the market on Wrangell and Zarembo Islands.
The Forest Service tailored the Alto, Cello and Fiddle timber sales to fit the needs of Wrangell’s small-scale mills and wood-related businesses. Part of the Roadside Timber Sale Program, the micro-sales total 2,000 board feet (1,000 board feet units are known in the industry by the abbreviation mbf), 4,000 and 8,000 respectively.
“Pretty small [sales], essentially a handful of trees,” Austin O'Brien timber staff officer at the Wrangell Ranger District said.
The roadside program awards salvage harvest of dead, dying or toppled trees and some select cut green saw timber harvest to a maximum of 1,200 feet from open roads. Alto, Cello and Fiddle are built around a specific specie of tree.
O’Brien said roadside also sets harvest limits. The maximum size for a sale is 50,000 board feet, up to 500,000 per year.
These first three micro sales were approved under the umbrella of the program’s broader environmental assessment. This tactic “streamlines the process,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien said the efficiencies may make the sales easier for small-scale local operators to respond to proposals. These operators employ five to 10 workers and process wood into higher value products, he said.
The proximity of the timber to existing roads also helps each sale’s economics, said Jeremy Maxand, community organizer with the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. Mill operators can select specific trees and make a competitive bid, he said.
Maxand worked with the Forest Service and local mills in Wrangell on Alto, Cello and Fiddle.
“This program is a great way to meet the needs of existing and future small local mill operators, music wood suppliers and other value-added wood products businesses,” Maxand said.
• Contact reporter Russell Stigall at 523-2276 or at russell.stigall@juneauempire.com.
Comments (11)
Add commentTo Bad that the entire
To Bad that the entire Tongass National Forest is basically on the cusp of being shutdown to industry and access because the Roadless Rule exemption has been removed.
So..no exemption means no more roads allowed in the Tongass (A Forest the size of West Virginia) And what that really means is no logging or industry.
The Environmentalist won and now the Tongass is basically a big park for people from the lower 48 and Europe to come and visit. Great for them but what about people that live up here and would like to make a living?
I hope Murkowski and Begich do more than just talk the talk and actually go to bat for the people and industries of Alaska and get the exemption re-instated.
**Did you know that 67% of Alaska is owned by the federal government,
and that only 28% is owned by the state?**
noroad,
You say now, without the exemption, that
"the Tongass is basically a big park for people from the lower 48 and Europe to come and visit."
You realize Tongass National Forest is a National Park, right? IT IS A PARK. That's what IT is. We live in Tongass National Park.
As far as the roadless rule exemption being removed in 2011, here is the ruling made by that judge:
"Plaintiffs' primary arguments are that the Roadless Rule does not prevent construction of utility lines or roads to connect southeast Alaska communities, no job loss was attributable to the Roadless Rule, and the Tongass Exemption does not reduce legal uncertainty," - Judge Sedwick
There you have it, noroad. It appears you haven't a pot to [filtered word] in.
Yeah, good luck getting that
Yeah, good luck getting that road in. I seem to remember a couple of villages up north wanting a road to the connect them and the airport...
Err, the Tongass is actually
Err, the Tongass is actually national forest land, which is different from a national park.
That doesn't mean we should rush to exploit it.
my mistake on the park/forest distinction.
We live in a National Forest. I didn't realize the park/forest distinction carried much weight. As is, the exemption removed on the Tongass does not end industry within its limits.
Development
People often confuse the Juneau Access Project (the road) with the Roadless Rule. We could build a road to Skagway under the Roadless Rule if we chose.
I find it odd that people would gripe about the Roadless Rule blocking future development in an article announcing three new timber sales. We need small sales; they facilitate more in state processing of wood. More jobs per board foot.
These sales are a good step to overcome a long history of spending dollars to make dimes. The history of SE Alaska logging involves spending big tax dollars to build roads to timber sales that don't pay for themselves. These sales use existing roads and sell small quantities that encourage in state processing of wood.
noroadfugitive said the Tongass exists so Europeans and lower 48 folks can visit it? What backcountry skills do they have that we don't? I visit the roadless parts of Alaska on a regular basis. I don't meet many Europeans there. It is true that the cruise industry brings a lot of foreigners and money to SE Alaska and that cruisers prefer forests to clear cuts. We would be wise to remember that they bring jobs here.
The Tongass already has a lot of roads that we don't have the cash to maintain. These timber projects work great because they rely on infrastructure we already have. Considering there is serious shortage of cash to maintain existing roads why should we build logging roads?
Don't worry
It's not the Roadless Rule that will block the Juneau Road. It's the fact that there'll be absolutely no money for it after Parnell starts giving away $2 billion per year to the oil companies.
You can kiss any prayer of a road away after that decision gets rammed through the legislature. And you can ask Cathy Munoz why she voted for it.
So, cheesy, as I understand it, the Plaintiff in 2011, being
opposed to the exemption, stated we could build roads in the Tongass connecting communities despite the Roadless ruling?
Just curious: "these operators employ 5-10 workers". Is that the total workforce or is this multiplied by how many operations.
Well said hiker. Small scale
Well said hiker. Small scale harvests that serve the local needs are in our best interest.
lattie
Happy that you were able to get your daily dig on the Gov.
Industry Shut down of the Tongass
I believe the general public truly does not understand the difference between National Parks and National Forests. These are two very different entities within the government. National Parks were set up to protect the lands as a whole in the park, while the National Forests were set up to manage the natural resources within the boundaries of the forest for the USA industries needing wood to make their products. The management was allowed to look at areas and allow the logging, which could have been live cut, blow down, beetle infested, or just thinning for fire reasons or the general health of the forest (look at the massive wildfires in the lower 48, most caused by the absolute no foresting.) Our USA industries is supposed to continue using the renewable resources within the forest so to keep jobs in the USA, continue tax base for USA communities, and so much more such as funding for schools.
The Tongass National Forest management estimates that 202 billion board feet grow each year in their forest, and at the top of logging in the Tongass it never allowed more than 1% / less than 2 billion board feet to be forested. What is really sad is the general public, because of the lack of education of the differences of the park and forest service responsibilities of management, we have essentially did exactly the same to this industry, as the government is blaming big business today for moving their operations across sea. We the general public are the biggest nimrods to our own industries in the USA as a whole.