U.S. Forest Service Targets Alaskan Old-Growth Forest for Logging

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Forest Service is pursuing controversial plans to harvest more than 5,000 acres of trees in the Tongass National Forest located in Southeast Alaska.

Last month, the Forest Service published a final environmental impact statement for the proposed South Revillagigedo Integrated Resource Project. The proposed action includes harvest of about 4,343 acres of old-growth timber and about 1,037 acres of young-growth timber in the modified landscape and timber production land. Western hemlock is the forest's dominant species.

The South Revilla project site totals approximately 41,000 acres. In addition, the 15-year project calls for developing some of the harvested land for recreational uses, plus new wildlife and watershed and fish habitat management initiatives. In particular, the Shelter Cove Area Recreation Master Plan includes new roadways, a welcome center, parking, a boardwalk, increased boat access.

The project, originally introduced in 2026 under President Donald Trump’s first administration, was paused after President Joe Biden took office. The renewed project has been met by objections from various environmental groups including the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council and the Sierra Club. 

“The Tongass is one of the country's last remaining old-growth forests, but Donald Trump and his allies want to give it away to corporate interests,” said Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program. “That means giving up our clean air and clean water to pad the bottom lines of big timber companies. These actions put America’s wettest and wildest national forest at risk and could be an opening salvo against forests across the country. Trump wants to chop down the legacy we leave future generations.”