I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to split western hemlock. Especially a piece with knots and badly twisted grain that is still a bit green. But I have. Our remote Forest Service cabin in southeastern Alaska was pretty well-stocked with stubborn piles of it.
“Judge Sharon Gleason, U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Alaska, ruled last week that the Forest Service violated federal law by approving future logging in the 16.7 million-acre Tongass National Forest.”
I pay my bills here in Southeast Alaska, at least in part, by having short and intense conversations on airplanes. I help wedge wadered clients from all over the globe into DeHavilland Beavers, then drop in on some of the planet’s most spectacular temperate rainforest
LOUISVILLE, CO — Forty-five years ago, Umpqua Feather Merchants opened its doors to anglers and shops in search of high-quality flies and unmatched variety. Now it’s wrapping its anniversary celebration around a good cause, collaborating with Trout Unlimited and the Sportsman’s Alliance for Alaska to raise $45,000 to help conserve and restore key salmon and…
The U.S. Forest Service this month finalized an amendment to its Tongass Land and Resource Management plan that will help conserve more than 70 salmon and trout streams within Southeast Alaska’s 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest. The decision helps safeguard fish thanks to provisions that transition the Tongass timber program from old-growth logging to one based on…
Rolling over from my plywood perch on the top bunk, I peer down to see all three of my cabinmates asleep. So I rule them out. Slipping the headlamp from beneath my pillow and turning on the light reveals not one but two Alaska-sized mice sitting on top of a cooler, munching saltines. I stare…
In 2010 the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, pledged to put a rapid end to large scale old-growth timber harvest in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. The idea was to emphasize second-growth management, with a new focus on regional economic bright spots such as fishing, tourism, and salmon. On Wednesday, however, any notion…
Washington D.C.—rife with politicians and paved with legislative hurdles—is a far cry from the AK backcountry. But that hasn’t stopped Juneau-based flyfishing guide Matt Boline from ditching waders, donning a suit, and entering the melee.
The Tongass 77 campaign is a TU- and fishermen-led effort supported by scientists that would require the Forest Service to manage the Tongass’ top 77 salmon-producing watersheds open to development… for fish first. Current threats to the Tongass National Forest include the Timber Task Force’s plan to carve out two million acres for clear-cut logging…
Even AK—contemporary bastion of wild salmon in big numbers—is not immune to the ills of habitual habitat degradation. The Tongass National Forest, for instance, is a prime example of salmon bearing waters in need of a little extra lovin’. They’re now set to get just that thanks to a $1 million partnership between The USDA…