USDA Approves Tongass Timber Sale

Tools

by Steve Brawn
by The Ketchikan Daily News

Story Created: Jul 21, 2009 at 11:33 AM AKST

Story Updated: Oct 13, 2010 at 4:51 AM AKST

A timber sale in the Tongass National Forest will proceed, the first approved by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack since the Obama administration ordered a one-year moratorium on most road-building and other development on about 50 million acres of remote national forests.

Vilsack said in May he would make final decisions on whether to allow road building in roadless areas administered by the U.S. Forest Service.

The Ketchikan Daily News reports that Vilsack last week approved the Orion North Reoffer Timber Sale, which offers 6.4 million board feet of timber harvested by clear-cut from about 360 acres near Thorne Arm on Revilla Island. The contract was awarded to Pacific Log and Lumber.

The approval comes in spite a pending lawsuit by environmental groups seeking a new supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

Coastal Television | Anchorage, AK News, Weather and Sports and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

Poll

Do you think Coastal Management should by handled by:

  • Ballot
  • The Legislature
  • I don't know

Tonight on ABC