USFS signs off on Logjam sale

The U.S. Forest Service has released the record of decision for the Logjam timber sale on Prince of Wales Island.

The U.S. Forest Service has released the record of decision for the Logjam timber sale on Prince of Wales Island.

Tongass National Forest Supervisor Forrest Cole Thursday signed the decision that proposes to harvest 73 million board feet of sawlog and utility timber from 56,133 acres of the Tongass National Forest west of Coffman Cove, including Sweetwater Lake.

Cole said the timber sale would have many benefits, including jobs for local mills, and indirect benefits such as providing more business for local companies.

"A lot of direct and indirect effects, including keeping Viking Lumber mill open, as well as keeping kids in the grade school system," Cole said.

He said that the timber sale would be bid in multiple sales, giving any mill a chance to bid, including Viking Lumber. He said even if Viking Lumber wasn't awarded the contract that, in all likelihood, some of the timber would be processed at that Klawock mill.

Cole said the sale would be let out for bids this fall after the 45-day appeal period. The timeline for the first harvest depends on which operator gets the contract and the weather this winter, he said. He said after the contract is awarded, a successful bidder could go to work immediately harvesting the timber.

The timber sale includes red and yellow cedar, hemlock and spruce. The sale is in the old-growth areas of the forest, but is seen as vital to the transition to young-growth management, Cole said.

That strategy is to get enough timber under contract to supply local mill operators and the industry enough wood for the next 15 to 20 years, according to Cole. After that, the timber sales would focus on areas that rely on young-growth timber from previously harvested areas.

The sale also incorporates construction of five miles of U.S. Forest Service system roads and an additional 22 miles of temporary roads.

Mark Gnadt, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council spokesman, said that organization still is deciding whether to appeal the decision.

"We understood the importance of this sale to the industry and the local mills," Gnadt said. "We suggested they reduce timber from this area and have the Forest Service work with the local mills to find other timber, especially for the sawmills - a microsale program to keep the small mills supplied without having to over cut this particular area."

SEACC had proposed cutting 36 million board feet of timber for that sale, Gnadt said.

The alternatives considered for the sale called for harvesting anywhere from 38 million board feet to 75 million board feet, plus a no-action alternative.

Cole said the Forest Service reviewed SEACC's proposal plus input from other conservation groups, but he said he determined that harvesting more timber was the best decision.

"Without it, we would have a significant shortage to keep the mills in Southeast Alaska open," Cole said.

Viking Lumber owner Kirk Dahlstrom did not return Daily News phone calls Friday seeking comment. Alaska Forest Association executive director Owen Graham was out of town and did not return a phone call requesting comment.

The Logjam timber sale is not in an inventoried roadless areas, so is not subject to a new rule where the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture has to sign off on the project. That rule, which the agriculture department implemented in May, involves only those areas in national forests that are designated roadless.

One pending timber sale, the Central Kupreanof timber sale near Petersburg, does contain some roadless areas and would be subject to that rule.

Note:  This story was only in the print edition.