A Battle Over Timber.

• Author: SWAGEL, WILL
• Position: Brief Article

It's worth noting that the pulp mills--which closed in the mid--1990s--were also bulwarks for the industry by adding high value to lower grade logs. While a lot of people can make money off the good logs, the questionable ones have a harder time finding a home, say those who broker wood products for a living.

Gateway Forest Products is an off-shoot of Ketchikan Pulp Co.--three of the group's partners are former KPC executives. As such, they have enjoyed good relations with the pro-industry city and borough governments.

Unfortunately, the positive view of Gateway's entrance into the Southeast timber market did not pass muster with at least one environmental organization.

When Louisiana-Pacific's 50-year timber contract ended, a last allocation of timber was dedicated to Gateway and the veneer plant. The agreement was forged in Washington, D.C. between top Clinton Administration staff, Alaska's senators, and industry and environmental groups. But in September, the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, and other groups not included in negotiations, filed suit against the agreement.

More precisely, says Earthjustice's Juneau staff attorney Tom Waldo, the environmental group is asking for an injunction to prevent logging the timber remaining under the L-P contract, now earmarked for Gateway. The environmental groups argue that an environmental impact statement issued under the assumption that timber needed to be produced for the pulp mill was no longer valid once the pulp mill was closed.

"The old (environmental impact statement) was based on the premise that the Forest Service had to make this timber available because of the (L-P) contract--and the Forest Service doesn't have that obligation any more," says Waldo. "The impact...