A familiar range of comments about logging, fishing, tourism and tribal issues are being expressed in response to a draft “biography” of the Tongass National Forest, with the 45-day comment period ending Monday as part of the agency’s years-long effort to update its management plan for the forest.

A big unknown, however, is if that biography and other aspects of the management plan will be drastically reshaped by the Trump administration’s wholesale overhaul of the federal government, including large staffing cuts and an executive order mandating the repeal of federal regulations that inhibit maximum utilization of Alaska’s natural resources.

The comment deadline for the Tongass Forest Plan Revision draft assessment report, which consists of 21 sections totaling more than 800 pages, was 11:59 p.m. Monday. A total of 74 comments are listed at the project’s website, nearly all of them submitted since last Tuesday as organizations in particular compiled detailed assessments. Forest Service spokesperson Paul Robbins Jr. stated in an email Monday the database doesn’t include items automatically “flagged” by the system such as multiple form letter submissions containing identical information.

The comments generally don’t mention Trump’s return to the White House and its potential policy implications for the Tongass management plan, aside from an occasional passing reference. An inquiry by the Empire to the Forest Service about how the Trump administration’s mandates might affect current work on the Tongass management plan did not receive a response as of midday Monday.

However, an affirmation that a shift in priorities will occur under the Trump administration was offered by federal officials participating in a Feb. 11 panel discussion at the Southeast Conference’s Mid-Season Summit in Juneau.

“The president has communicated his prioritized focus on energy, minerals and timber, and specific direction to the Department of Agriculture to review this rule and applications in the national forests,” Chad VanOrmer, regional forester for the Forest Service’s Alaska Region, told the audience. “So currently we’re waiting for the department’s direction on how this review or this rule will be implemented here coming into the future.”

The Forest Service’s draft Tongass assessment contains “evaluations of existing ecological, economic, and social conditions and trends across the forest,” according to a press release issued at the beginning of the comment period last month. The findings are based on “community workshops, tribal consultations, and feedback periods (that) began last April, coinciding with (existing) agency evaluations.”

Titles of the 21 sections include topic areas such as “The Tongass as an Indigenous Place,” “Timber Resources,” “Species of Conservation Concern,” “Energy and Minerals” and “Drivers, Stressors, and Climate Change.”

The comments responding to the draft range from one-sentence individual declarations, such as Susan Vogt pleading “NO MORE CLEAR CUTS OR ROADS,” to lengthy policy tomes submitted by organizations.

The Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, for instance, submitted a 53-page response detailing specific points as well as a 23-page petition requesting the Forest Service “undertake a Salmon Conservation Rulemaking for the Tongass National Forest to respond to recent run declines.”

The longer submissions generally express mixed reactions to the Forest Service’s wide-ranging draft assessment, based in many cases on past interactions with the agency on issues of importance. The Organized Village of Kake, in a nine-page written response, “acknowledges both positive and negative experiences with the Forest Service regarding consultation.”

“Overall, while the assessments include useful information, they must do a better job of demonstrating the purpose and need for this plan revision,” the response notes. “For example, climate change is one of the biggest stressors that faces our community and the resources that we depend on. As such, these assessments must address specifically how climate change and the stressors it will impose on the Tongass drive that Need for Change and how management must change holistically and adapt to respond to those changes.”

“The agency must engage with us as sovereign nations and in a spirit of co-stewardship to develop a new forest plan that provides for true co-stewardship of the Tongass.”

More support for timber harvesting is sought in a comment by the Dixon Entrance Chapter of the Society of American Foresters, which argues a timber sale schedule in effect since 2016 has resulted in harvest volumes far too small to support the industry.

“The Plan identifies approximately 3.5 million acres as old growth (150 years age+) ‘Well Drained Forest Land’, while another 558 thousand acres lies in young growth stands of various age classes,” the organization’s comment notes. “These harvested acres comprise only 8% of the ‘total productive” forest land on the Tongass Forest identified in your assessments. This is a staggering low percentage of utilized timber resources and indicates the still largely intact nature of the Tongass National Forest.”

Enthusiasm for the industry was also expressed in a Feb. 16 comment by Haynes Tormey, a Haines contractor who wrote “the reason the main industry in Southeast Alaska has shifted from Timer to Tourism (is) largely is caused by Federal Government interference.”

“Timber is the most renewable, organic, and biodegradable product on Earth,” he wrote. “Tourism is beginning to lose its luster in Southeast Alaska. Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway are all beginning to talk about tightening the ship port of call visits to their tows. Cruise ships are dirty. They pollute, and the industry contributes ZERO to the GDP of out Country…Also, Tourists are interested in Alaska logging. It does not lower the amount of visitors to Alaska.”

A more nuanced approach to timber activity in the Tongass was expressed in a Feb. 23 comment by Zach LaPerriere, a Sitka resident and co-owner Timberworks LLC. He stated that as a professional woodworker for more than 30 years he favors an approach allowing higher per-tree profits from limited harvesting of premium wood that benefits regional residents rather than large-scale harvests that benefit corporations.

“I encourage the USFS to offer small timber sales, and disqualify any operator that intends to export round logs,” he wrote, concluding his comment by stating “conservation and timber can work together, it just takes a bit of innovation and thinking of the future.”

Among those seeking more information in the “biography” about the ecosystem of the Tongass was Daniel Feller in a Feb. 14 comment.

“Management focus should be directed towards species inventory, status and conservation needs prior to the continuation or expansion of extractive industries,” he wrote. “Natural ecosystems and their biological components are irreplaceable when lost and disruptions are difficult and expensive to reverse or repair even when possible. Old growth forest or other undisturbed natural areas always provide optimal habitat for biodiversity to flourish and is not given the high level of prominence needed.”

Among the multitude of specific policy suggestions offered by comments is an entry fee for cruise ships, similar to that charged for Forest Service recreational areas, submitted by Heather Marlow on Feb. 24. Another comment submitted Feb. 23 by Connie LaPerriere expressed opposition to any policy prohibiting cavers from placing anchors, commonly referred to as “bolting.”

“The caves on the Tongass can be dangerous and vertical,” she wrote. “Usually cavers do not like to use bolts, but occasionally they are a necessary safeguard for exploration. In fact having to leave the cave to obtain a permit under certain circumstances could endanger the cavers. A cave rescue caused by not protecting a drop could actually cause more bolts to be employed during the rescue. I do not believe this has been a large problem and think this is unnecessarily restrictive.”

The draft assessment comes near the end of the second stage of a four-stage process to revise the Tongass Land Management Plan, with completion of the final stage — implementation — scheduled in 2028. The final assessment released after public comment will be followed by the third stage, which will include the redrafting of the plan, an environmental impact statement and extensive public review.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.