1981 RESOLUTIONS
Home
About the FWOC
Join the FWOC
Member Organizations
Adopted Resolutions
Outdoors West
Officers
Current List of Conservation Developments with Bush Administration
History
Policy Summary
Convention Schedule
Related Links
Site Map
| No. 4 |
TIMBER OVERHARVEST ON
THE TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST |
|
|
|
The 17.5 million acre
Tongass National Forest holds some of the finest wilderness left in the
country. Its uniquely-evolved environment supports populations of
Sitka spruce/western hemlock forests for winter survival. The
majority of this old growth forest is contained in the island ecosystem
of Southeast Alaska. |
|
| The Forest Service and
private timber companies are systematically harvesting almost 2/3 of
this old growth forest for export overseas. The extremely high
harvest level is not only destroying Sitka black tailed deer habitat
but impacting wintering habitat for goats, bear, and other forest
dwellers, and impacting the streams that support large runs of all five
species of Pacific salmon. The Forest Service, as a result of the
Alaska Lands Act, must harvest 4.5 billion board feet per decade
regardless of the loss of other forest resources or the loss to the
American taxpayers. The Tongass National Forest traditionally
operates a deficit timber sale program. |
||
| The Federation
of
Western Outdoor Clubs reaffirms Resolution No. 7 of 1979 and adamantly
opposes this dangerously-high level of timber harvest of the Tongass
National Forest. The Federation urges the Forest Service,
Department of Agriculture, and President Reagan to reduce this cut to a
level that is compatible with the other forest resources that sustain
the quality of life in Southeast Alaska. |
* * *
next
>>