Trees globally remove about 30% of the additional carbon dioxide that we add to the atmosphere, Law says. Visiting Tongass National Forest - Gorp About 92 million of those are on Forest Service land. He noted that the national forest is about the size of West Virginia, and can accommodate what he described as limited infrastructure. Jim Clark, an attorney in Juneau who has been working with industry and state officials to keep Tongass exempt from the protections that apply to much of the National Forest system, has argued to the Biden administration that the economic benefits of some road construction are critical and can be achieved without harming the ecology. Tickets & Tours - Tongass National Forest, Ketchikan - Viator Restoring the road prohibitions listens to the voices of Tribal Nations and the people of Southeast Alaska while recognizing the importance of fishing and tourism to the regions economy, he said. On their northern reach, the redwoods blend into the Douglas fir of Oregon and Washington, gigantic trees in their own right, which then give way in northern British Columbia and Alaska to red cedar, Sitka spruce and western hemlock. I think the whole country is watching very closely to see what Biden will do, Jackson says. It calls for forest health treatments on an additional 50 million acres of forested land, both public and private, across the nation over the next 10 years more than double current levels. Those in the pipeline include the Bitterroot Front Project, in Montanas Bitterroot National Forest, where 55,000 acres of trees, including mature and old growth, are on the chopping block. In the US, where they are not corporately owned, the U.S. Forest Service is likely to manage them, yet even these publicly owned forests are not safe. Our Amazon. So, forests like the Tongassaremost effectiveinhelpingthe climate crisiswhenleft standing. Fish & Wildlife Service, and National Park Service, arrived last week. The White House also issued new directives for assessing greenhouse gas emissions in federal environmental reviews, replacing guidelines that had been withdrawn by Mr. Trump. The Tongass National Forest, the nation's largest with 17 million acres, covers most of Southeast Alaska, surrounding the famous Inside Passage. He compared what the agency has done so far to a child being told to clean their room and instead stuffing all their belongings in a drawer and folding their arms. Receive emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about current events through a science lens. The towering trees also play an essential role in fighting climate change. A rollback of federal protections puts more than half of it at risk. The implications of this system are still being felt today as many students not only suffered the loss of their language, but also their culture and identity. The new rule reinstates protections in the pristine Alaskan back country that were first imposed in 2001 but stripped away by President Donald J. Trump in 2020. The Forest Service is just as likely to enable the loggers as to restrain them; even the national and state parks and reserves of California survive only at the whim of giant bureaucracies these in turn are reflective of which parties are in power. When logging companies go in and clear-cut these massive trees on a steep slope, there is a huge amount of sediment runoff because of how much it rains in Southeast Alaska, sometimes as much as 12-and-a-half feet annually, which can cause landslides and choke salmon streams, Berner explains. To date, there is no sign that the White House has made that demand. Image Credit: Marina Anderson. The Tongass National Forest is not just Americas last climate sanctuary, but the ancestral homeland of the Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian peoples. He doesnt see the solution as black or white. published 1 January 2022 The largest rainforests host a variety of unique plants and animals. Aerial photograph of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. There are many actions the Forest Service could have taken in the year since Bidens executive order to show it was serious about protecting these forests from a threat it has the most control over, Furnish said, from suspending all timber sales that propose harvesting mature and old-growth trees to stipulating that all such projects must be reviewed and approved by Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. Redwood grove, southern Humboldt County, California. In Montanas Kootenai National Forest, the Black Ram project would allow for nearly 4,000 acres of western larch, ponderosa pine and western white pine, including some 500 acres of mature and old-growth trees, to be logged. At more than 17 million acres, the Tongass is an incredible testament to conservation and nature. We are planning for the next 10,000 years of prosperity., Marina Anderson, sitting in an area of clear-cut temperate forest on Prince of Wales Island in Tongass National Forest, Alaska. Lisa Friedman reports on federal climate and environmental policy from Washington. The Tongass National Forest sustains the lands and people of Southeast Alaska,. At almost 17 million acres, the Tongass National Forest is the largest National Forest in the United States. According to the marvelous documentary study of the Tongass, The Under Story (2018), the Forest Service in the US spendsfarmoreon conducting timber sales and building roads than it does on reforestation and conservation. It also abounds in animals and birds and fish, with unsurpassed scenery and hardy people. A 2018 report from the Oregon Global Warming Commission found that since the early 1990s, forests in Oregon have transitioned from being a likely net source of carbon to a major sink. Those in the pipeline include the Bitterroot Front Project, in Montanas Bitterroot National Forest, where 55,000 acres of trees, including mature and old growth, are. The Tongass National Forest in Alaska, . Our local economies cannot survive without the investments of small businesses like those in the forest products industry. As our nations largest national forest and the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, the Tongass National Forest is key to conserving biodiversity and addressing the climate crisis, Mr. Vilsack said in a statement. Furnish agrees the White House must do more to force the Forest Services hand. with green groups over the administrations lack of commitment to protect these carbon hotspots. Timber executives said years of restrictions imposed by Democrats have run lumber companies out of the region. Conservationists and several Alaskan native groups applauded the Tongass decision. The largest National Forest in the nation, the Tongass ,a humongous land area, surrounds the Inside Passage. Within these schools, there were reports of physical and sexual abuse, and children were beaten for speaking their native langauages, according to a University of Alaska study on the long-term effect of boarding schools on Alaska Natives. Are Putin and Trump Playing Russian Roulette? A humpback whale near the boundary of the Tongass National Forest. Bore Tide is in Canada! The Tongass National Forest is the largest National Forest with almost 17 million acres. Whether at the gas station, dock, or any social gathering, salmon, and the distribution of it, is as interwoven with their culture as the lands and seas they rely upon. As you explore Southeast Alaska, you can see remnants of the vast glaciers that formed much of the North American landscape. There are many reasons to save the Tongass. How Big is the Tongass National Forest? Tongass National Forest. The decision to open up the Tongass to loggers could have serious implications for both the environment and the Alaska Native communities that depend on it. But Indigenous residents tend toward the upper end of that range since fish, particularly salmon, play a crucial role in many tribes cultural heritage. They are host to an unseen habitat where another world flourishes, this one in the canopy, an ecosystem that is home to flying squirrels, salamanders, spotted owls, bats and the ancient marbled murrelets. Tessa Axelson, executive director of the Alaska Forest Association, which represents timber companies in Southeast Alaska, said the industry is disappointed but not surprised by the rule. . Come join us on a lovely 3.6-mile roundtrip hike through an Alaska State Park into the Tongass National Forest. State leaders have argued that an updated survey should be completed before any new restrictions are imposed so the government and the public is aware of the full economic potential that could be lost. In response to HuffPosts inquiry, which included a question about whether the Forest Service views fire as a bigger threat to mature forests than logging, Moore pointed to an NPR story about how the recent fires in California killed nearly one-fifth of remaining giant sequoias. Mount Juneau Juneau, Alaska. With that money now in hand, the Forest Service is under intense pressure to deliver, Furnish said. Best Hikes Near Tongass National Forest This means that Tongass National Forest is about 1,000 square miles larger than the state of West Virginia. While tropical rainforests are the lungs of the planet, the Tongass is the lungs of North America, says Dominick DellaSala, chief scientist with the Earth Island Institutes Wild Heritage project. Ordinary visitors as well as environmentalists have long been staggered by the sheer beauty of the redwood grove, together with the inspiration gained from walking amongst them. About 92 million of those are on Forest Service land. In photosynthesis water and carbon (taken from the atmosphere) combine to form carbohydrates and give off oxygen. Thirty years later, everyone celebrates the Siuslaw as the wonderful win-win meets its timber quota, doesnt log old growth, coho salmon are recovering, everyone loves it, yet the agency has resisted imposing that example on forested land elsewhere, Pedery said. With President-Elect Joe Biden publicly claiming he will be a climate change pioneer while in office, Joel Jackson is hopeful that he will keep the roadless rule in place. Dun and Bradstreet lists 500 mining companies with offices in Vancouver; these and others forge ahead, oblivious apparently to a ruined earth they leave behind. But the Biden administration has the ultimate responsibility to tell the Forest Service to shift direction, to shift away from 20th century logging policies and move into a 21st century approach to our national forests, which would emphasize biodiversity, forest carbon storage, recreation and recreation jobs.. Image Credit: Phillip Gladkov. The largest trees in Tongass, cedar and western hemlock are hugely effective in sequestering carbon dioxide and no single forest in the US can compare. When Does a Formal Democracy Degenerate into Fascism? As extraordinary as the redwoods are, they have more in common with their neighbors to the north than one might imagine. He barely remembered his Native name, but he said he would never forget the number that they gave him, Anderson says. The power of the corporations, private and public, cannot be exaggerated. This National Forest offers unique chances to view eagles, bears, spawning salmon, and the breathtaking vistas of "wild" Alaska. But he says it is clear the Forest Service is dragging its feet on proposing a rule, nevermind one that confronts the ongoing threat of logging to older forests. Furnish said there doesnt appear to be any urgency on the Forest Services part to get a rule across the finish line, let alone to do so before the end of Bidens term in office. For decades, Forest Service managers there had allowed for intensive logging of mature and old-growth trees vital habitat for the majestic northern spotted owl. In recent months, BLM and the Forest Service each took a step toward fulfilling the White House directive actions that green groups widely celebrated as long-overdue moves toward balancing conservation with drilling, mining, logging and other development, that seeks to place conservation on equal footing with energy development and other traditional uses, including through issuing conservation leases to promote land protection and ecosystem restoration. Jim Furnish, a former deputy chief of the Forest Service in the Clinton administration, has closely monitored the agencys actions in the wake of Bidens executive order on protecting mature and old-growth forests. For this reason, the USDA Forest Service understands that wildfire and other climate-related stressors are a chief threat to old-growth and mature stands on national forests and grasslands.. Tongass Nat'l Forest on Twitter: "Bore Tide is in Canada! Alaska Region For these Native communities, the loss of children to boarding schools dealt a tremendous blow, one that led to a breakdown in society and increased drug and alcohol use. The Hoh and Quinault river valleys, also in the park, are home to towering fir, cedar and spruce draped in ghostly mosses. Together, these ecosystems form a key natural climate solution. This National Forest is the largest in the United States and the largest remaining temperate rainforest in the world . It's hard to fathom, but this equates to over 26,000 square miles of forest. According to Tripadvisor travelers, these are the best ways to experience Tongass National Forest: 3-Hour Alaska Rainforest Hiking Tour in Tongass National Forest from Ketchikan (From $119.00) 2 Hour Alaska Rainforest Walk and Totem Park Small Group Tour (From $85.00) Ketchikan Kayak Eco-Tour (From $159.00) The national forest is now richer in mature and old-growth trees. Potential negative effects on the Tongass may be ameliorated and may be completely reversed with time, reducing or eliminating potential negative cumulative effects on carbon and climate, noted the U.S. Forest Services draft environmental impact statement (DEIS). US to end large, old-growth timber sales in Alaska forest - Phys.org Bush administration threatened to drive the species to extinction. The Upper Cheat River Project, in West Virginias Monongahela National Forest, targets 3,400 acres of mature forest, including stands that are more than 100 years old. It is best known for its glaciers; giant cruise ships bring tourists by the tens of thousands to see these great vanishing monuments, sites surely worth seeing but perhaps best not on these ships. It is still possible to stand in a redwood sorel garden, a garden that carpets a remaining grove of the worlds tallest trees here in northern California. The deadline is now July 20. Earthjustice is defending the Tongass National Forest, a key weapon in fighting climate change. I almost think they are viewing the executive order as a problem thats getting in the way of their fire response, as opposed to an opportunity to really consider recasting the future of the agency around climate change, carbon storage, mature and old-growth forests and some of those values, he said. Rob Hoelscher, district ranger for the Forest Services Hell Canyon District. With 16.8 million acres, The Tongass National Forest The primary species of trees in the Tongass are Sitka spruce, western hemlock, western red cedar, and Alaska (yellow) cedar. The forest was named for a Tlingit Indian group. But it stopped short of recognizing logging as an ongoing threat to primary forests or proposing to safeguard ancient trees from harvest. It is the largest rainforest in the world. In the summer of 1991, the Siuslaw National Forest on Oregons central coast found itself backed into a corner. Now, I am surrounded by the long-lasting effects of this short-sighted industrial activity, Jackson says. Some forest ecologists and conservationists view the situation not so much as a disconnect between the White House and the Forest Service, but between the administration and the growing body of science showing old-growth forests. Tongass National Forest - About the Forest - US Forest Service Hanson highlighted research that shows harvesting mature trees in an effort to save them from fire actually, per acre than wildfire alone and that thinning and other fuel reduction activities can at times, Furnish acknowledges that wildfire is a complex threat. Those that do are almost exclusively on federal lands, mostly in the West. This spectacular 17 million acre region supports abundant wildlife, including such priority bird species as the Marbled Murrelet. The Forest Service is responding to the direction in the executive orders and Secretarial Memo with data-informed tools, strategies, policy recommendations, and systems for accountability for fire and climate resilience, climate adaptation, reforestation, ecosystem and watershed restoration, ecosystem services, mature and old growth forests, and carbon stewardship, as well as related investments in community engagement, partnerships, collaboration and equity, Moore said. Tongass National Forest - America's Rainforests I simply dont think they see a way through if they dont have free and ready access to chainsaws cutting down a lot of mature and old-growth trees to reduce the density of a lot of these stands, he said. The increased risk of carbon loss through natural and human-caused disturbances, such as wildfires and insect epidemics, can jeopardize carbon storage and other ecosystem services, he said. In Alaska, salmon are also a keystone species, meaning that many other species in the ecosystem depend on them. Echa un vistazo a nuestra coleccin de itinerarios cerca de este precioso parque natural Alaska. The Tongass America's largest and wildest national forest is filled with centuries-old towering trees, ice fields and glaciers, and rivers and fjords flowing among thousands of islands. The Forest Service did not make Swanston available for an interview. As a former logger who participated in the timber boom around Kake, Jackson knows this intrinsically. Trump administration wants to expand logging in Tongass National Forest with data-informed tools, strategies, policy recommendations, and systems for accountability for fire and climate resilience, climate adaptation, reforestation, ecosystem and watershed restoration, ecosystem services, mature and old growth forests, and carbon stewardship, as well as related investments in community engagement, partnerships, collaboration and equity, Moore said. USDA Announces Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy, Initiates U.S. Forest Service - Tongass National Forest | Ketchikan AK - Facebook (0.4 kilometer) wide on each side of the highway system is closed to big game hunting, but this mitigates only some of roads' pervasive effects. That year, a federal judge in Seattle banned all logging in spotted owl habitat, concluding that the scale of timber harvest under the George H.W. The Biden administration said Thursday, July 15, 2021, that it is ending large-scale, old-growth timber sales on the nation's largest national forest, the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, and . When these forests are logged, the carbon that they had been storing is released back into the atmosphere. That notice stresses the importance of mature and old-growth trees, including their resilience to climate change and their role in contributing to nature-based climate solutions by storing large amounts of carbon and increasing biodiversity. It also softly confronts past agency missteps, including non-climate informed timber harvest and decades of aggressive fire suppression that left many forests choked with excessive fuels. The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers. Furnish still talks to current Forest Service officials, and he told HuffPost that hes heard directly from Chris Swanston, the Forest Service climate adviser and acting director of the agencys Office of Sustainability and Climate, that the agencys leadership is less enthusiastic than the White House about the need for a climate resilience rulemaking and that there is no guarantee the Forest Service will follow through on proposing one. A fight in Alaska's Tongass National Forest to keep old-growth trees to And by focusing on thinning unnatural, monoculture tree plantations that were planted after extensive clear-cutting a method that involves cutting down all or most of the trees in a selected area the forest has continued to be a source of timber. It results in our people staying lost, and not being able to reconnect with who we are.. Tongass National Forest (Ketchikan) - What to Know BEFORE You Go Any evidence that the Forest Service is taking that seriously on the ground is completely lacking.. The amount of money spent on fighting fires in the U.S. has exploded in recent decades. Activities abound to entertain and educate locals and travelers alike. Those in favor of relaxing restrictions of the roadless rule include the Alaska Resource Development Council, the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce and the Alaska Miners Association. And given the Forest Services track record, particularly during the Trump administration, it is not surprising that theyre kind of continuing as if nothing has changed, until and unless some subsequent action is taken.. Right now, the crisis of climate change overwhelms all else as an existential danger, an ever-increasing danger to every aspect of our lives and to the earth itself. By Alexandra Larkin July 15, 2021 / 8:03 PM / CBS News The Biden administration moved Thursday to reverse a Trump-imposed policy that opened major areas of the U.S.' largest national forest,. Cedar, hemlock and Sitka spruce trees in the forest provide essential habitats for hundreds of wildlife species. Old-growth trees in Tongass National Forest, which holds nearly twice as much carbon dioxide as the United States releases each year by burning fossil fuels, are embroiled in the politics of. Tongass National Forest - Districts - US Forest Service Biden to Restore Protections for Tongass National Forest in Alaska Most of those are old-growth forests. The nutrient-rich waters of the Tongass produce about 50 millionsalmonvalued at $60 million annually, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). But he said prevailing Forest Service dogma is that they view any prohibition on logging primary forests as a fundamental hurdle to reducing wildfire risk. argument that many scientists disagree with: U.S. Forest Services draft environmental impact statement, carbon absorption rate accelerates as the tree ages, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 90% of rural households in Southeast Alaska consume salmon. To me it is patently obvious that field managers from forest supervisors, rangers, foresters on down they simply dont get climate change, forest carbon, mature and old growth, he said. To Anderson, the increased logging and development of the Tongass will adversely affect the Haida tribe and their connection to their ancestral homeland. The jewel in all this forest is the Tongass in Alaska, 16.8 million acres. The U.S. Forest Service remains committed to a multi-purpose management mission including logging (chainsaw management), mining and grazing. To Joel Jackson, tribal president of the Organized Village of Kake, no one is more interested in the future prosperity of these lands than the Indigenous first peoples of Alaska: Our lands and waters provide us with our food, our cultural resources, the ability to practice our way of life, Jackson says. But a little more than a year later, some of those same forest experts have soured. The Organized Village of Kake is not interested in short-term profit, exploiting what we have to create gains for the next 10 to 50 years, Jackson says. Democrats and Republicans have fought over the Tongass for decades, with environmentalists, some Native tribes and Democrats fighting to preserve the forest while Republicans, timber companies and mining executives argued for its development. Image Credit: Michael Ryan Clark. He doesnt see the solution as black or white. The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to end a nearly two-decade long limit on logging in Alaska's Tongass National Forest. Once they have spawned, the salmon die, fulfilling a life cycle that provides nutrients for many protected species found in few other places in the continental United States.
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