No road for Tongass?

• Author: Bonham, Nicole A.
• Position: Impact of road moratorium policy of US Forest Service on timber industry in Alaska

Of continued concern in the timber industry, is the U.S. Forest Service's road moratorium policy, which would stop development in roadless areas of national forests.

In the federal arena, a maelstrom of controversies continues to swirl around the practice of forest management in Alaska, with the recently completed revisions to the Tongass Land Management Plan now under appeal.

While the massive 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest was initially exempted from the roadless policy for the time being, industry leaders are concerned that the moratorium issue might be addressed during the appeals review of the Tongass Land Management Plan. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck has been quoted as saying he expects a long-term road policy to apply to all forests.

Alaska Forest Association officials say the process of possibly reviewing the roadless issue while considering the TLMP appeal is a "backdoor" approach that circum vents public input and threatens further timber development on the nation's largest national forest, which occupies the southeast portion of the state.

As perhaps never before, lawmakers in Congress are positioning themselves for a face-off with the U.S. Forest Service, pushing upon it what some say is an impossible dual-mission. The nation's federal foresters are being pressured to increase timber harvests and road-building to previous levels, but to also slash that agency's financial losses. Meanwhile, lawmakers like Alaska's Congressman Don...