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75-522: The LeConte primarily serves the northern portion of the Alaskan Panhandle in between Sitka and Juneau , but also occasionally ventures into Southeast Alaska as well. In a highly controversial and political change, however, the LeConte was turned into a day boat operated exclusively out of Juneau. This change cut service to the community of Pelican and to the hub of Sitka — home of

150-664: A for profit corporation, created a huge controversy in South East Alaska. A study released by Audubon Alaska on 22 February 2012 showed that the Sealaska selection of the largest trees in areas designated in S 730 and HR 1408 is 1200 percent greater than the occurrence of these trees in the Tongass as a whole. There is strong opposition to passage of S 881 coming from seven communities in the Tongass, most on Prince of Wales Island. In addition, there are fears expressed by

225-623: A move that reverses a Trump administration decision to lift restrictions on logging and road-building, the Biden administration announced on 15 July 2021 that it would end large-scale, old-growth timber sales in the Tongass National Forest. Forest restoration , recreation and other non-commercial uses will instead be the focus. The new rules would still allow for smaller timber sales, including some old-growth trees, for cultural uses by local communities. The most contested logging in

300-528: A phase-out of old-growth harvesting, to be replaced by rotation harvesting of managed second-growth forests . The World Wildlife Fund locates it in their Pacific temperate rain forest 'WWF ecoregion', a geographical area. There are 19 designated wilderness areas within the Tongass National Forest, more than in any other national forest. They contain over 5,750,000 acres (23,300 km ) of territory, also more than any other. From largest to smallest, they are: There are three other wilderness areas within

375-720: A slightly modified version of the Sealaska Bill and Representative Don Young introduced a companion bill (S 730 and HR 1408). While HR 1408 was passed out of the Natural Resources Committee, S 730 remains in the Natural Resources Committee of the Senate. Known as the Sealaska Lands Bill, the removal of 91,000 acres from the regulatory protections of the USFS and transfer of the land to Sealaska,

450-505: A statement, Forest Service officials said the new plan would be subject to public comment for 60 days. The Forest Service removed most of the Tongass National Forest from roadless area designation in October 2020, allowing road construction and logging in more than 9.3 million acres of rainforest. Clear-cut lands lose the carbon sink of old-growth forest , habitat for wildlife, and soil stability, causing landslides. In June 2021,

525-787: A tourism agency in 1947 under the name Arctic Alaska Tours which was renamed Westours, which originally arranged trips for travelers on steamships. The border between Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia was the subject of the Alaska boundary dispute , where the United States and the United Kingdom claimed different borderlines at the Alaskan panhandle. While the British foreign affairs were in favor of support of

600-508: Is Alaska's largest National Forest. Alaska Wilderness League describes the Tongass as "one of the last remaining intact temperate rainforests in the world". 70,000 people inhabit the region. While the timber industry dominated the economy for a long time, the region has transitioned into "non-timber... [sources of revenue] such as recreation, subsistence food, salmon, scientific use, and carbon sequestration [which] contributes more than $ 2 billion" annually. Tourism supports over 10,000 jobs in

675-545: Is Earth's largest remaining temperate rainforest. The terrain underlying the forest is divided between karst ( limestone rock, well-drained soil, and many caves) and granite (poorly drained soil). Unique and protected creatures seldom found anywhere else in North America inhabit the thousands of islands along the Alaska coast. Five species of salmon , brown and black bears , and bald eagles abound throughout

750-616: Is based in Craig, Alaska . Debates over whether to expand logging in the federally owned Tongass are not uncommon. Mining remains important in the northern area with the Juneau mining district and Admiralty mining district hosting active mines as of 2015. Gold was discovered in 1880 and played an important part in the early history of the region. In the 2010s, mines increasingly began to be explored and eventually completed in neighboring British Columbia , upstream of important rivers such as

825-491: Is by far the largest air carrier in the region, with Juneau's Juneau International Airport serving as the aerial hub for all of southeast, and Ketchikan's Ketchikan International Airport serving as a secondary hub for southern southeast Alaska. Alaska's bush airlines and air taxis serve many of the smaller and more isolated communities and villages in the regions. Many communities are accessible by air only by floatplane , as proper runways are often difficult to construct on

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900-494: Is huge, about 40% of the Tongass is composed of wetlands, snow, ice, rock, and non-forest vegetation, while the remaining 10 million acres (40,000 km ) are forested. About 5 million acres (20,000 km ) are considered "productive old-growth", and 4,500,000 acres (18,000 km ) of those are preserved as wilderness areas. Historically, logging operations tended to concentrate on lower-elevation, bigger-tree ecosystems for harvesting; at present, approximately 78% of

975-635: Is now the city of Ketchikan . The Tongass includes parts of the Northern Pacific coastal forests and Pacific Coastal Mountain icefields and tundra ecoregions. Along with the Central and North Coast regions of British Columbia designated as the Great Bear Rainforest , the Tongass is part of the "perhumid rainforest zone", and the forest is primarily made up of western red cedar , sitka spruce , and western hemlock . The Tongass

1050-571: Is the largest U.S. National Forest at 16.7 million acres (26,100 sq mi; 6,800,000 ha; 68,000 km ). Most of its area is temperate rain forest and is remote enough to be home to many species of endangered and rare flora and fauna. The Tongass, which is managed by the United States Forest Service , encompasses islands of the Alexander Archipelago , fjords and glaciers , and peaks of

1125-677: Is the northern terminus of the Inside Passage , a protected waterway of convoluted passages between islands and fjords, beginning in Puget Sound in Washington state. This was an important travel corridor for Tlingit , Haida , and Tsimshian Native peoples, as well as gold-rush era steamships. In modern times it is an important route for Alaska Marine Highway ferries as well as cruise ships . Southeast Alaska includes seven entire boroughs and two census areas , in addition to

1200-656: Is the sixth largest national park in the United States . On August 20, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve, which formed the heart of the Tongass National Forest that covers most of the region. The climate of southeast Alaska is dominated by a mid-latitude oceanic climate ( Köppen Cfb ) in the south, an oceanic, marine sub-polar climate ( Köppen Cfc ) in

1275-520: The Alaska ( n ) panhandle , is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska , bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia (and a small part of Yukon ). The majority of southeast Alaska is situated in Tlingit Aaní , much of which is part of the Tongass National Forest , the United States' largest national forest . In many places,

1350-577: The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA). This Act conveyed approximately 44,000,000 acres (180,000 km ) of federal land in Alaska to private native corporations which were created under the ANCSA. 632,000 acres (2,560 km ) of those lands were hand-picked old growth areas of the Tongass National Forest and are still surrounded by public National Forest land. These lands are now privately held and under

1425-413: The Alexander Archipelago . The largest islands are, from North to South, Chichagof Island , Admiralty Island , Baranof Island , Kupreanof Island , Revillagigedo Island and Prince of Wales Island . Major bodies of water of southeast Alaska include Glacier Bay , Lynn Canal , Icy Strait , Chatham Strait , Stephens Passage , Frederick Sound , Sumner Strait , and Clarence Strait . The archipelago

1500-677: The Coast Mountains . An international border with Canada ( British Columbia ) runs along the crest of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The forest is administered from Forest Service offices in Ketchikan . There are local ranger district offices located in Craig , Hoonah , Juneau , Ketchikan , Petersburg , Sitka , Thorne Bay , Wrangell , and Yakutat . The Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve

1575-734: The Glacier Bay Wilderness and a small part of the Wrangell-Saint Elias Wilderness , which are both administered by the National Park Service . The Tongass National Forest offers recreation opportunities, some of which are found only in Alaska. The forest has close to one million visitors each year. Most come by cruise ships arriving through the Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska. The Forest Service provides visitor programs at

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1650-675: The Joe Biden administration revealed its intent to "repeal or replace" Trump's removal of roadless designation. According to Matt Herrick, spokesman for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) under Biden, "We [the USDA] recognize the vital role the forest and its inventoried roadless areas play in communities, and in the economy and culture of southeast Alaska, as well as for climate resilience ." The Biden administration planned to formally publish its intent to revise

1725-674: The LeConte was already listing ten degrees and the tides in Peril Strait were already making the situation highly precarious. After assessing the circumstances of the grounding, it was concluded operator error caused the incident (not the notorious tidal currents that Peril Strait is known for) and those in command of the vessel were fired from the ferry system. Alaskan Panhandle 57°34′48″N 135°29′14″W  /  57.58000°N 135.48722°W  / 57.58000; -135.48722 Southeast Alaska , often abbreviated to southeast or southeastern , and sometimes called

1800-723: The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center in Juneau and the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center in Ketchikan. The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, built in 1962, was the first Forest Service visitor center in the nation. The forest interpretive program on the state ferries began in the summer of 1968, and was the longest-running naturalist program in the agency until ending in 2013. Native corporation lands are those designated by

1875-721: The Pacific temperate rain forest zone, as classified by the World Wildlife Fund 's ecoregion system, which extends from northern California to Prince William Sound . The most common tree species are sitka spruce and western hemlock . Wildlife includes brown bears , black bears , endemic Alexander Archipelago wolf packs, Sitka black-tailed deer , humpback whales , orcas , five species of salmon , bald eagles , harlequin ducks , scoters , and marbled murrelets . The Ecological Atlas of Southeast Alaska , published by Audubon Alaska in 2016, offers an overview of

1950-746: The Unuk and the Stikine , which became known as the transboundary mining issue. In 2014, the dam breach at the Mount Polley mine focused attention on the issue, and an agreement between Canada and Alaska was drafted in 2015. The proposed Kerr Sulphurets Mitchell exploration is upstream of the Unuk. Mines upstream of the Stikine include the Red Chris, which is owned by the same company (Imperial Metals) as

2025-434: The international border runs along the crest of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains (see Alaska boundary dispute ). The region is noted for its scenery and mild, rainy climate . The largest cities in the region are Juneau , Sitka , and Ketchikan . This region is also home to Hyder , the easternmost town in Alaska. Southeast Alaska has a land area of 35,138 square miles (91,010 km ), comprising much of

2100-423: The "Takus" can affect the structure of some stands and often cause single-tree blow-downs. Of all the old growth in the forest, no more than 11% of the remaining area will ever be harvested. Of the 5,700,000 acres (23,000 km ) of "productive old-growth" in the forest, 676,000 acres (2,740 km ), or 12% of the total old-growth, are slated for harvest over the next 10 years. Current harvesting plans call for

2175-812: The 1950s, in part to aid in Japanese recovery from World War II , the Forest Service set up long-term contracts with two pulp mills: the Ketchikan Pulp Company (KPC) and the Alaska Pulp Company. These contracts were scheduled to last 50 years, and originally intended to complement independent sawlog operations in the region. However, the two companies conspired to drive log prices down, put smaller logging operations out of business, and were major and recalcitrant polluters in their local areas. Ultimately, virtually all timber sales in

2250-449: The 1960s after cruise ship entrepreneur Stanley B. McDonald repurposed a transport ship named Princess Pat, founding Princess Cruises to do leisure cruises which expanded into southeast Alaska by 1969. The TV series The Love Boat was set on a Princess cruise and featured episodes in Alaska; it also helped to popularize cruising generally which helped it grow rapidly between 1977 and 1987. Prior to Princess cruises, Chuck West created

2325-943: The Alaska Panhandle region that are not part of the Tongass National Forest, but are administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge . From largest to smallest they are the Forrester Island Wilderness , the Saint Lazaria Wilderness , and the Hazy Islands Wilderness . Also in Southeast Alaska, but not in the Tongass National Forest, are

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2400-485: The Canadian argument, the event resulted in what was thought of as a betrayal, leading to alienation of the British from the new nation of Canada . Due to the extremely rugged, mountainous nature of Southeastern Alaska, almost all communities (with the exception of Hyder , Skagway , and Haines ) have no road connections outside of their locale, so aircraft and boats are the major means of transport. The Alaska Marine Highway passes through this region. Alaska Airlines

2475-415: The Forest Service has lost over one billion dollars in Tongass timber sales . Logging operations are not the only deficit-run programs, however. The Forest Service likens the overall deficit of the timber harvest program to the many other programs the agency operates at a deficit, including trail, cabin, and campground maintenance and subsistence programs. High-grading (preferentially targeting for logging

2550-561: The Forest Service.'" While the Forest Service may reevaluate its approach to roadless area management in the Tongass, it must comply with the requirements of the APA [the federal Administrative Procedures Act] in doing so. In October 2019, the Trump administration instructed federal officials to reverse the limits of tree cutting at the request of Alaska's top elected officials, including Senator Lisa Murkowski and Governor Michael J. Dunleavy. In

2625-515: The LeConte both because of its small size and the lack of demand due to its feeder route running times. The LeConte and the M/V Aurora are the only AMHS vessels able to serve the communities of Angoon , Pelican , Tenakee Springs , Hoonah and Kake . These vessels' small sizes make them both vital assets for the ferry system and the residents of these rural villages. On May 10, 2004,

2700-695: The M/V LeConte nearly sank after running aground on Cozian Reef in Peril Strait en route to Sitka. Eighty-six passengers and 23 crew were on board at the time and all safely evacuated the ship upon grounding. After a Coast Guard response, passengers were evacuated via life rafts to nearby good samaritan vessels — most of them picked up by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fishery research vessel John N. Cobb — to be taken to Sitka and booms were laid out to encircle

2775-546: The Mount Polley mine. Major hospitals include Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau and PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center in Ketchikan. Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium runs healthcare facilities across 27 communities as of 2022, including hospitals in Sitka and Wrangell; although it originally served Native Americans only, it has expanded access and combined with other local facilities over time. Due to

2850-722: The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Center, a hospital that solely serves the Native Alaskan community, the primary demographic of the Leconte' s ports of call. In the summer of 2005, the LeConte made a number of stops in Bartlett Cove , which is one of the gateways of Glacier Bay National Park . The LeConte ' s amenities include a hot-food cafeteria, movie and forward observation lounges, and solarium. There are no cabins on

2925-616: The Tongass National Forest, with about 10% being related to fishing activities. Three Alaska Native nations live in Southeast Alaska: the Tlingit , Haida , and Tsimshian . Thirty-one communities are located within the forest; the largest is Juneau , the state capital, with a population of 31,000. The forest is named for the Tongass group of the Tlingit people, who inhabited the southernmost areas of Southeast Alaska, near what

3000-549: The Tongass has involved the roadless areas . Southeast Alaska is an extensive landscape, with communities scattered across the archipelago on different islands, isolated from each other and the mainland road system. The road system that exists in the region is in place because of the resource extraction history in the region, primarily established by the Forest Service to enable timber harvest. Once in place, these roads serve to connect local communities and visitors to recreation, hunting, fishing, and subsistence opportunities long into

3075-565: The Tongass were purchased by one of these two companies. In 1974, the exclusive KPC contract for 800,000 acres of old growth forest on Prince of Wales Island was challenged by the Point Baker Association led by Alan Stein, Chuck Zieske and Herb Zieske. Federal District Court judge James von der Heydt ruled in their favor in December 1975 and March 1976, enjoining clearcutting of over 150 square miles (390 km ) of

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3150-529: The Tongass. An early supervisor of the forest was William Alexander Langille. On September 4th, 1971, Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crashed in the Tongass National Forest, killing all 111 people on board. After the creation of the Tongass National Forest, the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska formed to challenge the federal government's rights to the land in 1935. In Tlingit and Haida Indians of Alaska v. United States ,

3225-539: The Trump-era rule by August 2021, with details of the plan being finalized in the following two years. In November 2021, the administration officially published a rule to restore roadless protections in the Tongass National Forest; The rule took effect in January 2023, restoring the 2001 roadless rule. Known by the U.S. Forest Service as the "crown jewel", the Tongass stretches across 17 million acres of land and

3300-710: The United States where the Haida ermine , a rare and endangered species of weasel , can be found; aside from here, the only other place on Earth where it is found is the Haida Gwaii archipelago in Canada . Of the three subspecies of the Haida ermine, one is found on Prince of Wales Island and the other is found on Suemez Island (both located within the Tongass), with the third being found on Haida Gwaii. Though its land area

3375-560: The amendment, said, "I am not opposed to logging when it's done on the timber company's dime… But in this case, they are using the American taxpayer to subsidize these 200 jobs at the tune of $ 200,000 per job. That just makes no sense." In July 2009, the Obama Administration approved clearcut logging on 381 acres (1.54 km ) in the remaining old growth forests of a Tongass National Forest roadless area. The timber sale

3450-508: The appropriations bill to block federally funded road building in Tongass National Forest. Proponents of the amendment said that the federal timber program in Tongass is a dead loss for taxpayers, costing some $ 30 million annually, and noted that the Forest Service faces an estimated $ 900 million road maintenance backlog in the forest. Supporters of the bipartisan amendment included the Republicans for Environmental Protection . Representative Steve Chabot , an Ohio Republican who sponsored

3525-402: The business interests of Native Regional Corporations and the personal interests of local Native and non-Native residents of Southeastern Alaska. Currently Sealaska, a native regional corporation created under the ANCSA is asking for an amendment to the Act that would distribute additional land to Alaskan Natives. When Sealaska was created, it was promised additional land that was unavailable at

3600-418: The central region around Juneau , and a subarctic climate ( Köppen Dfc ) to the far northwest and the interior highlands of the archipelago. Southeast Alaska is also the only region in Alaska where the average daytime high temperature is above freezing during the winter months, except for in the southern parts of the Aleutian islands such as Unalaska . Southeast Alaska is a temperate rain forest within

3675-399: The court found Alaskan natives held established aboriginal title by their "exclusive use and occupancy of that territory from time immemorial". The court found the Alaska Treaty of Cessation between Russia and the United States did not extinguish aboriginal title to the land, and that the creation of the Tongass National Forest constituted a taking of land from the Tlingit and Haida. The case

3750-429: The cruise ship industry). Logging has been an important industry in the past, but has been steadily declining with competition from other areas and the closure of the region's major pulp mills; the Alaska Forest Association described the situation as "desperate" in 2011. Its members include Alcan Forest Products (owned by Canadian Transpac Group, one of the top 5 log exporters in North America ) and Viking Lumber, which

3825-757: The fishing and ferries in the region, ship building and maintenance are economically significant. Ketchikan hosts a shipbuilding yard owned by Vigor Industrial . Tourists visit southeast Alaska primarily in the summer, and most visit via cruise ships , which run from April 15 to October 30. In 2019, around 1.3 million people visited Alaska by cruise ship. The northbound Inside Passage cruise commonly starts from either Seattle or Vancouver, Canada and stops in various ports including Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. One-way trips will end in Whittier or Seward. An alternative Gulf of Alaska cruise starts in Whittier (Anchorage) and also passes through southeast Alaska's Inside Passage. The cruise ship industry became prominent in

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3900-414: The forest. Other terrestrial animals include wolves , mountain goats , ravens , and sitka black-tailed deer . Many migratory birds spend summer months nesting among the archipelago, notably the Arctic tern . Orca and humpback whales , sea lions , seals , sea otters , river otters , and porpoises swim offshore. The Tongass is also home to steelhead and salmon. The Tongass is also the only place in

3975-412: The future. Installing roads in the vast wilderness areas of the Tongass has been opposed by the roadless area conservation movement, which claims that it would promote habitat fragmentation , diminish wildlife populations and damage salmon spawning streams. They argue that existing roads are sufficient. The Tongass National Forest was included in the Roadless Initiative passed on 5 January 2001, during

4050-405: The hull — enough to have sunk the ship had it been lifted off its perch on the reef. Only minor injuries were suffered and only during the evacuation of the boat. The LeConte has now been repaired and is back in service. It is widely agreed a more dire emergency could have resulted had the weather not been so accommodating during the entire salvage process, especially in light of the fact that

4125-539: The island. A new Authority, the Rainforest Islands Ferry Authority, was created and in 2014 may possibly operate the North End route. The Authority would connect Coffman Cove with Wrangell and Petersburg. Small companies like Sitka-based Allen Marine and other independent operators in the Lynn Canal occasionally also offer marine passenger service. Ship traffic in the area is seasonally busy with cruise ships . Tongass National Forest The Tongass National Forest ( / ˈ t ɒ ŋ ɡ ə s / ) in Southeast Alaska

4200-434: The land remains intact, i.e. 383,000 acres (1,550 km ) out of 491,000 acres (1,990 km ) original big-tree, low-elevation forest area. Given the high value of these areas for wildlife species, close to 70% of this old growth forest is protected in reserves and will never be eligible for harvest. Major disturbances in the Tongass National Forest include windfall and landslides. Local winter windstorms referred to as

4275-445: The last days of the Bill Clinton Administration, and the initiative prevented the construction of new roads in roadless areas of United States national forests. In September 2006, a landmark court decision overturned Bush's repeal of the Roadless Rule, reverting to the 2001 roadless area protections established under president Clinton. The Tongass remained exempt from that ruling. In June 2007, U.S. House members added an amendment to

4350-412: The major US Forest Service Environmental Impact Statements issued in subsequent five-year intervals starting in 1979, and continuing in the 1988 EIS. In 1990, a Federal District Court in Alaska, in a case called Stein v Barton , held the US Forest Service had to protect all salmon streams in the Tongass with buffer strips. One of the claims in Stein v Barton for protection of the Salmon Bay Watershed

4425-420: The management of Sealaska Corporation , one of the native regional corporations created under the ANCSA. Transference of public National Forest land to a privately owned corporation removes it from protection by Federal law and allows the owners to use the land in whatever way they see fit without regard to the effects of the use on surrounding lands and ecosystems. This fact has caused much controversy involving

4500-424: The marketplace (2008 Appropriations Bill P.L. 110–161, H. Rept. 110–497, Sec. 411). However, the Forest Service also conducts NEPA analyses, layout, and administrative operations to support these sales, and as such, the government does not make a profit overall. Given the guaranteed low prices during contract days and the continued high cost of logging in Southeast Alaska today, one analysis concludes that, since 1980,

4575-521: The most profitable forest types) has been prevalent in the Tongass throughout the era of industrial-scale logging there. For example, the forest type with the largest concentration of big trees—volume class 7—originally comprised only 4% of the forested portion of the Tongass, and over two-thirds of it has been logged. Other high-grading has concentrated on stands of Alaska cedar and red cedar. The karst terrain often produces large trees and has fewer muskeg bogs, and has also been preferentially logged. In

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4650-418: The new restrictions made them uncompetitive and closed down their mills in 1993 and 1997, respectively, and the Forest Service then cancelled the remainders of the two 50-year timber contracts. In 2003, an appropriations bill rider required that all timber sales in the Tongass must be positive sales, meaning no sales could be sold that undervalued the "stumpage" rate, or the value of the trees as established by

4725-426: The north end of Prince of Wales Island. The suit threatened to halt clearcutting in the United States. In 1976, Congress removed the Zieske injunction in passing the National Forest Management Act . Over half the old growth timber was removed there by the mid 1990s. The battle for buffer strips, to protect salmon streams from logging, which began in the Zieske v Butz lawsuit, continued through comments submitted to

4800-404: The portion of the Yakutat Borough lying east of 141° West longitude. Although it has only 6.14 percent of Alaska's land area, it is larger than the state of Maine , and almost as large as the state of Indiana . The southeast Alaskan coast is roughly as long as the west coast of Canada. The 2010 census population of southeast Alaska was 71,616 inhabitants, representing approximately 10% of

4875-536: The price of a hamburger". The Tongass Timber Reform Act , enacted in 1990, significantly reshaped the logging industry's relationship with the Tongass National Forest. The law's provisions cancelled a $ 40 million annual subsidy for timber harvest; established several new wilderness areas and closed others to logging; and required that future cutting under the 50-year pulp contracts be subject to environmental review and limitations on old-growth harvest. Alaska Pulp Corporation and Ketchikan Pulp Corporation claimed that

4950-473: The reasons proffered by the Forest Service in support of the Tongass Exemption were implausible, contrary to the evidence in the record, and contrary to Ninth Circuit precedent, the court concludes that promulgation of the Tongass Exemption was arbitrary and capricious. With the passage of the Roadless Rule, inventoried roadless areas, 'for better or worse, [were] more committed to pristine wilderness, and less amendable to road development for purposes permitted by

5025-494: The region's landscape, birds, wildlife, human uses, climate change, and more, synthesizing data from agencies and a variety of other sources. This area is the traditional homeland of the Tlingit , and home of a historic settling of Haida as well as a modern settlement of Tsimshian . The region is closely connected to Seattle and the American Pacific Northwest economically and culturally. Major industries in southeast Alaska include commercial fishing and tourism (primarily

5100-547: The state's total population. About 45% of residents in the southeast Alaska region were concentrated in the city of Juneau , the state capital. As of 2018, the number of settlements in southeast Alaska that have a population of at least 1,000 people has grown to nine. Populations are taken from the 2020 Census . Southeast Alaska includes the Tongass National Forest (which manages Admiralty Island National Monument and Misty Fjords National Monument ), Glacier Bay National Park , and Sitka National Historical Park . Glacier Bay

5175-443: The steep island slopes. Southeast Alaska is primarily served by the state-run Alaska Marine Highway , which links Skagway, Haines, Hoonah , Juneau , Sitka , Petersburg , Wrangell , Ketchikan and other outlying communities with Prince Rupert, BC and Bellingham, Washington ; and secondarily by the Prince of Wales Island -based Inter-Island Ferry Authority , which provides the only scheduled passenger and auto ferry service to

5250-410: The stranded, empty vessel. Soon after, 23,000 gallons of fuel were pumped out of the fuel tanks and cars were transferred to a landing craft in an elaborate procedure. A salvage operation then began and the vessel was successfully escorted to Ketchikan's Alaska Ship and Dry Dock for repairs under tow after temporary patches were put onto the expansive gashes that compromised five separate compartments of

5325-458: The time due to contracts with pulp mills; much of this original land is now under water or in a watershed, and consequently Sealaska has requested different land. On 23 April 2009, Senator Murkowski and U.S. Rep. Don Young introduced a revised Sealaska bill (S. 881 and H.R 2099) that requests public lands that are both economically valuable and environmentally delicate. Starting with the next session of Congress in 2011, Senator Murkowski reintroduced

5400-593: Was established by Theodore Roosevelt in a presidential proclamation of 20 August 1902. Another presidential proclamation made by Roosevelt, on 10 September 1907, created the Tongass National Forest. On 1 July 1908, the two forests were joined, and the combined forest area encompassed most of Southeast Alaska . Further presidential proclamations of 16 February 1909 (in the last months of the Roosevelt administration) and 10 June, and in 1925 (by Calvin Coolidge ) expanded

5475-403: Was finally settled in 1968 with a $ 7.5 million payment that valued the Tongass at about 43 cents an acre. The value was based on land value at the time of the taking in 1902, without the inflation or interest accrued in the past 66 years. Timber harvest in Southeast Alaska consisted of individual handlogging operations up until the 1950s, focusing on lowlying areas and beach fringe areas. In

5550-524: Was partially enacted into law when Congress Passed the Tongass Timber Reform Act; environmental lobbyists had compromised with Senator Ted Stevens leaving the most valuable forest available to logging in the headwaters of the salmon streams therein. Much of the power of these companies lay in the long-term contracts. The contracts guaranteed low prices to the pulp companies—in some cases resulting in trees being given away for "less than

5625-599: Was permanently stopped by a lawsuit. In March 2011, Judge John Sedwick from the Anchorage federal district court, in his ruling, reinstated the Roadless Rule on roadless areas in the Tongass, but with three of the Forest Service's recent timber projects excluded from that ruling "without prejudice." Those projects were Iyouktug Timber Sales ROD (record of decision), Scratchings Timber Sale ROD II, and Kuiu Timber Sale Area ROD. The Order concluded in part: Because

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