The demise of timber
I have to respond to Sunday's Lew Williams Jr. My Turn. You, Robin Taylor and the rest of the timber industry cheerleaders always complain about the "outside" environmentalists who are keeping the industry from getting their fair share of the Tongass. You complain, often, that outsiders are trying to, "Kill the Alaska timber industry."
Well, Mr. Williams, I came to Alaska in 1962 and worked for the Forest Service for over 20 years on the Tongass. I have seen first hand how the industry and the Forest Service conspired to cut most, if not all, of the Tongass old growth at virtually no cost to the industry. How two pulp mills ran small loggers out of business through collusion and restraint of trade. How millions of board feet of timber have been underscaled and stolen (as late as the mid-80s).
I talked to a Justice Department investigator who said a political decision had been made not to bring indictments against Forest Service administrators.
The 500,000 acres you state were cut from the Tongass created in 1907 is, in fact, 1 million acres (let's not forget the miles of clear cuts on Native-owned lands). Over 70 percent of the highest value trees have been logged. The second growth was to be ready for a second cutting in 100 years, rather than the 150 years that now seems most likely. We are left with the legacy of the loss of valuable fish and wildlife habitat and the guaranteed decline of deer, wolf, bear and other old growth forest-dependent species. All communities are hurt and subsistence is greatly reduced. We in Southeast and the rest of the nation have all contributed our tax dollars to the millions and millions of tax dollars that have made this violation of public trust and environmental degradation possible.
The simple fact, Mr. Williams, is that the timber industry and the Forest Service that regulates it have killed the timber industry.
K.J. Metcalf
Juneau