Tonka Timber Sale Comments Submitted

SEACC recently submitted comments on the proposed Tonka Timber Sale southwest of the community of Petersburg on the Lindenberg Peninsula of Kupreanof Island.  The timber sale proposes to log between 25.2 and 53.4 million board feet of old-growth timber and would require the construction of 10 miles of of new roads.

SEACC is supportive of sustainable logging on the Tongass and we approached this sale with a focus on environmental impacts and long term jobs creation for nearby communities.  Unfortunately, none of the alternatives proposed under this EIS are designed to work in small sales over a long time scale--that is, none are designed for smaller, local mills.  As such, we were unable to support the sale as designed and instead proposed an alternative designed with local mills in mind and with additional protections for key subsistence deer hunting and crab fishing areas.

Check out SEACC's full comments here, and stay tuned for additional opportunities to comment.  The next step for this timber sale is a full Environmental Impact Statement, which will include opportunities for public comment.  Forest Service documents on this project are available here.