Groups want Roadless Rule protection for Tongass forest

The Kake Native community was joined by conservation organizations and tourism interests in a lawsuit filed Tuesday to protect the remaining old-growth areas in the Tongass National Forest.

The federal lawsuit seeks the removal of the an exemption for the Tongass from the Clinton-era Roadless Rule. The rule passed in 2001 but its application in Southeast Alaska's forests was successfully challenged by the state and timber groups.

After six years waiting for an alternate plan, it's time to protect the forest, Earthjustice Lawyer Tom Waldo said Tuesday. Waldo is co-counsel in the lawsuit with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The Roadless Rule protects roadless areas in national forests from commercial logging. The Tongass was exempted from the rule in 2003.

"We now have the temporary rule still on the books six years later," Waldo said. "It's time for the situation to be resolved."

The forest needs protection because it has suffered too much from past logging, Organized Village of Kake Representative Mike Jackson said in a prepared statement.

Two timber sales are slated for roadless areas near Kake, on North Kuiu Island and Central Kupreanof Island.

"We must not lose more roadless areas here," Jackson said. "For tribal members, these lands are essential sources of food, medicine, clothing and traditional items for artistic and spiritual use."

A timber industry representative said the lawsuit, if successful, would damage the region's timber industry, already suffering under reduced timber supply.

"The timber industry needs a reliable supply of timber and we don't have that right now," Alaska Forest Association Executive Director Owen Graham said. "There's just one medium-sized sawmill left and a few mom and pop outfits ... We can't get by on what little timber they've made available for us now."

Plaintiffs in the case include the Alaska Wilderness Recreation and Tourism Association, The Boat Company, Sierra Club, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, Tongass Conservation Society, Greenpeace, Wrangell Resource Council, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and Cascadia Wildlands.

The Boat Company, a small cruise operation serving high-end clients for 30 years in the region, joined the lawsuit to protect the forest for its clients to enjoy, Vice President of Operations Hunter McIntosh said.

"Our clients pay a significant amount of money to travel with us and they expect a certain experience," McIntosh said. "The more areas impacted by timber, the fewer areas there are for us to go to."

Tourism supports thousands of regional jobs, many more than timber, McIntosh said. The company wants to protect the industry, he said.

The U.S. Forest Service plan for the Tongass - a 2008 document that drives long-term management decisions on the forest - designates 2 percent of roadless areas for timber harvest, Graham said. It's half the timber supply in the plan, and much of the timber in roaded areas won't be mature enough to harvest for many years, he said.

"Without that 2 percent we'd barely have a timber industry - we barely have one now," Graham said.

Logging activities in the region slowed during the 1990s, when the majority of timber sales were challenged by conservation groups.

Times have changed, said Juneau Sierra Club Executive Director Mark Rorick. In addition to tourism, subsistence and fishing uses on the forest, climate change is now a big concern.

"In regards to that issue, protecting the Tongass is highest priority," Rorick said.