KETCHIKAN — Officials are moving forward with a road project that will increase access to hundreds of acres of forest land in Southeast Alaska and could help facilitate a proposed timber sale.
The Alaska Division of Forestry announced Monday it awarded a $3.5 million contract for construction of the forest road. The 8.5-mile path will connect the Lewis Reef area to an existing logging road on Vallenar Bay and establish access to state land on Gravina Island, according to a news release from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
Department officials say the project, which will open up access to 2,500 acres of forest land, is part of the state’s efforts to manage the Southeast State Forest as a working forest.
“A ‘working forest’ means utilizing forest resources to create jobs and support healthy communities through active forest management, while protecting fish and wildlife habitat, providing the public with access to recreation and other multiple use of state land, and maintaining public benefits such as clean air, land, and water,” the release says.
The planned road could also help with plans for the proposed Vallenar Bay Timber Sale on Gravina Island. The sale was approved by DNR Commissioner Mark Myers earlier this year, despite opposition from environmental and conservation groups.
Myers, in a Feb. 26 letter, said the final best interest finding for the timber sale — signed by state forester John Maisch in May 2015 — “was supported by law, reason, and the interests of the state.” Under the proposal, about 12 million board feet of old and young growth timber could be put up for sale on the northern end of Gravina Island.
The road project is being funded through Alaska’s 2013 capital budget as part of the state’s work to increase access to state resources, according to the release.
