The Tongass Forest spans nearly 17 million acres; an area more than three times the size of Wales. Tightly-packed spruce and hemlock trees cover the land, broken only by rivers and the sea. The giant leaves of the undergrowth (just a tiny part of this ecosystem) have remained unchanged for thousands of years. Those who share this land with wildlife that thrives here are desperate to keep it that way.
Activist Wanda Culp feels strongly about the plans for the forest. She explains: “Seals, whales and families of nesting bald eagles all live together here; if you open the forest to roads, it will lead to major destruction. The roads are built in straight clear-cut lines and this leads to very fast destruction.”
Salmon also spawn here in their millions. They mature out in the ocean sustaining one of south-east Alaska’s biggest industries - fishing. Disrupting their habitat would make life even harder for fishermen here, already struggling to deal with changing ocean conditions. Fishman Sommers Cole explains: “We have this amazingly intact ecosystem, something that tourists come from all over to see. My fear is that we end up trading an extractive resource that won’t last very long, for something that - if we take care of it and do it right - can serve us for many generations.”
At a rally in the state capital Juneau, native Alaskans and environmental campaigners are trying to make their voices heard. They say their senator Lisa Murkowski in the US capitol isn’t listening to what they have to say. Lisa Murkowski commented: “I grew up in communities in the Tongass region; I think that I understand what the issues are and I believe that the Tongass National Forest should be managed for multiple uses.”
There are in fact many in the Tongass region who agree, including people who work in the logging industry, power companies and miners. These people want to be able to develop their businesses in the same way that people in the rest of the United States can. Miner Neil McKinnon says: “It’s totally unfair that we are not able to build a road to a small-scale hydro-electric site and get it done in a cost effective and reasonable way, rather than having to wait for a heavy-lift helicopter and the cost and the delay that goes with it; they have these sites everywhere else in the world, why can’t we have them here?”
However, these trees also store massive amounts of carbon, more than any other national woodland across the United States. This is vitally important in the fight to stop climate change. Division in the Tongass runs as deep as the forest. Are all these trees more valuable standing, or should some give way to development?
> List the industries that could be developed in this area and would bring more money into the economy.
> Explain why it is so important that we protect forests like the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.
> Name the different stakeholders or interest groups that are involved in debating forest development.
> To what extent do you believe that developing the Tongass National Forest would have more benefits than negatives?
> What challenges might there be when trying to develop the Tongass National Forest region?