Rainforests

In many ways, Alaska’s Tongass National Forest presents one of the most compelling conservation opportunities in the United States, if not the world. Extensive logging has already destroyed half the world’s ancient temperate rainforests, including up to 95 percent of the North American rainforest in the southern reaches of the United States. What remains of this rainforest in Alaska represents over 40 percent of the world’s old-growth temperate coastal rainforest and contains the largest pristine stands of trees.

The region is an internationally significant reservoir of biodiversity and wildness. It is home to some of the world’s healthiest populations of wild salmon, grizzly bears, and bald eagles. It is also home to diverse coastal towns and communities that depend on the forest’s resources for their survival. Commercial fishing and tourism are mainstays of the local economy, and the bounty of the land and sea continues to feed many rural families who live a traditional subsistence way of life.

Our Role:
ACF contributes leadership in the Tongass Conservation Collaborative (TCC) to move the conservation agenda in Southeast Alaska aggressively toward a community-supported, solutions-based future. Specifically, ACF provides leadership and coordination for the organizations in the campaign, and facilitates communication and collaboration for strategy development and work plan implementation.

In this instance, particular value has been added by ACF to provide critical mass for promoting a solutions-based approach to resolve the Tongass logging impasse. Ongoing battles over this region have damaged the reputation of conservation interests through much of Alaska, taken scarce resources from other important conservation efforts, and will hobble efforts to obtain important permanent protection status for these important lands.

Goal:
The TCC’s intent is to permanently protect a significant portion of the remaining wild lands of the Tongass National Forest from clearcutting and other harmful development, while supporting healthy community economies in the region. The primary goals are to pass legislation that would permanently protect watersheds that have important biological, social, and other values throughout the Tongass. The campaign does not advocate a “no-cut” policy in the Tongass and supports the establishment of a sustainable timber program based primarily on young-growth forests and on the expansive road system already in existence.