JUNEAU, Alaska-A diverse coalition, including conservation groups, Alaska tribes, a commercial fishing advocacy group, and an ecotourism operator, has formally requested to intervene in a legal challenge initiated by the timber industry. This challenge aims to reinstate industrial old-growth logging within the Tongass National Forest, a region of immense ecological and cultural significance.

The Timber Industry’s Legal Push

The timber industry’s litigation, initiated March 6, implores a federal court to mandate the U.S. Forest Service to increase the availability of old-growth trees for timber sales. The plaintiffs, comprising the Alaska Forest Association, Viking lumber Co., and Alcan Timber Co., assert that the Forest Service acted unlawfully by announcing the Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy (SASS) in 2021. They further claim that the forest Service has failed to offer sufficient large old-growth timber sales to satisfy government-projected market demands.

Defense of Current Forest Management

The intervening groups contend that the existing forest management practices are both lawful and conducive to a lasting regional economy. They highlight the recent economic growth in the region, attributing it to the Tongass’s gradual recovery from extensive industrial logging. Furthermore, they argue that the current management aligns with the preferences of the majority of Southeast Alaskans.

SASS: A Strategy for Sustainability

The Southeast Alaska Sustainability strategy (SASS) is a widely supported initiative in the region. It outlines the Forest Service’s intention to initiate rulemaking to restore the Roadless Rule to the Tongass, identify investment opportunities that support regional priorities, engage meaningfully with tribes, and ultimately, end most industrial old-growth logging.

The Shift Away From Old-Growth Logging

While logging persists within the Tongass, the scale of industrial old-growth clearcut sales sought by the timber industry plaintiffs has diminished in recent years. The 2016 Tongass Forest Plan advocated for a transition from old-growth logging to a primarily young-growth industry.Recent timber sales have focused on providing opportunities for logging young-growth for construction, and also smaller old-growth sales for local mills. the Forest Service has also prioritized restoration and recreation projects within the Tongass, supporting fishing, tourism, and other regional economic drivers.

The Coalition of Intervenors

The intervention motion is supported by a diverse group of stakeholders:

• Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association
• The Boat Company
• Southeast Alaska Conservation Council
• The Wilderness society
• Organized Village of Kasaan
• Organized Village of Kake
• Center for Biological diversity
• Natural Resources Defense Council

Earthjustice represents all parties except the Center for Biological Diversity, which is representing itself.The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is also providing its own counsel, with Earthjustice serving as co-counsel.

Government Seeks Dismissal

In a separate but related progress, the federal government filed a motion earlier this week to dismiss the industry-lead lawsuit. The government argues that the timber industry’s legal claims are overly broad, targeting the Tongass’s entire forest management program. if the court sides with the government, it would effectively end the industry-led legal challenge, representing a significant victory for the groups seeking to intervene in defense of the Tongass.

Voices of the Intervenors

Key stakeholders have voiced their concerns and perspectives on the matter:

Efforts to impose old-growth logging in the Tongass National Forest set a risky precedent for this critical ecosystem and ancestral land and are an insult to the hard-fought efforts to keep destructive development out of the most precious parts of the Tongass.
Meda DeWitt, Alaska state senior manager at The Wilderness Society

DeWitt further emphasized the cultural significance of the Tongass:

The Tongass is the heart of Indigenous life in Southeast Alaska, a living rainforest that has sustained Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples for over 10,000 years. Logging threatens not only biodiversity and climate resilience, but the cultural survival of communities who have cared for this land since time immemorial.We have to listen to the voices of Southeast alaska and ensure that this forest is protected – for the preservation of culture, for our climate, and for future generations to come.
Meda DeWitt, Alaska state senior manager at The Wilderness Society

Linda Behnken, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, highlighted the economic value of a healthy tongass:

The real value of the Tongass is in the rich natural capital that provides sustainable dividends year after year to both residents and visitors. As long as we safeguard the forest’s remarkable intact ecosystems, the Tongass will continue to provide abundant natural resources – wild salmon, clear rivers, clean air.All of that is compromised by cutting old-growth trees that shade salmon streams,regulate water flow,and provide wildlife habitat that,in turn,sustain the economy and our Southeast Alaska way of life. Clearcutting in the Tongass was a mistake of the past,and one that should never be repeated as we work toward a better future.
Linda Behnken, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association

Mike Jones, president of the Organized Village of Kasaan, underscored the impact on tribal communities:

The logging of productive old growth within the Tongass National Forest would adversely affect tribal communities culturally, nutritiously and economically. The overall health and wellness of our people would be greatly impacted.
mike Jones,president of the Organized Village of Kasaan

Joel Jackson,president of the Organized Village of Kake,spoke about the positive changes since industrial logging decreased:

The remaining old-growth timber is importent to our way of life. Since industrial scale logging stopped, now replaced by tourism, we have seen our forests start healing. Wildlife,like moose,deer and bear,are rebounding. The trees are also critically important to provide shade for fish streams. The salmon returns are so important to our way of life. We are salmon people and it has sustained our people for thousands of years. Our tribe has long defended the Tongass, and we urge others who want to keep what is left of our old-growth trees to speak out.
Joel Jackson, president of the Organized Village of Kake

Hunter McIntosh, president of The Boat Company, framed the lawsuit as a step backward:

This lawsuit is nothing more than an attempt to force the Tongass backward. The Forest Service’s current approach supports the communities, tribes, fisheries, and sustainable industries that actually define Southeast Alaska today. The old model of large-scale logging doesn’t belong in our future – and we’re here to help defend that future.
Hunter McIntosh, president of The Boat Company

Maggie Rabb, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, criticized the timber industry’s motives:

This lawsuit is a cynical attempt to capitalize on a political moment, but the people of Southeast Alaska want healthy forests and sustainable management practices – they don’t want their home destroyed so one industry – part of one industry, even – can relive its glory days of clear cutting old growth.
Maggie Rabb, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council

Marlee Goska, an Alaska attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, emphasized the climate implications:

This reckless new push to log old-growth trees in the Tongass is utterly out of step with today’s climate and conservation realities. These ancient forests are one of our most powerful natural defenses against the climate crisis, storing vast amounts of carbon and supporting rich ecosystems. Logging Tongass old growth destroys essential wildlife habitat, harms Indigenous and local communities, and undermines the region’s sustainable economies. We can’t let the timber industry drag us back to an era when old-growth forests are devastated without a second thought.
Marlee Goska, an Alaska attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity

Garett Rose, senior attorney at NRDC, highlighted the progress made in the tongass:

This lawsuit by the timber industry is a desperate attempt to turn back the clock on decades of progress on the Tongass. Industrial-scale old growth logging has no place in this critical rainforest. Ramping up logging threatens the ecological integrity that countless people and species rely on. And we’re standing with local communities to ensure those values remain intact for decades and centuries to come.
Garett Rose, senior attorney at NRDC

Kate Glover, an attorney at Earthjustice, explained the economic transition underway:

The timber industry, in this litigation, is blaming the government for an economic transition toward a sustainable regional economy not centered around industrial-scale logging. That transition was already well underway before the Forest Service announced its Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy. It’s a transition Southeast residents favor, and the Forest Service is simply following the forest plan by moving away from old-growth logging.
Kate Glover,attorney at Earthjustice