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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2001

With the Bush administration moving to ease back a ban on logging and road building on 60 million acres of federal forest land, the Tsimshian Tribe of Alaska is worried about a potential sale of timber in the Tongass National Forest.

The US Forest Service had been preparing a timber sale on Gravina Island in Tongass. When the Clinton administration finalized its roadless forest policy, the sale was prevented.

But now that the rules are being scaled back, Gravina Island will be among those that are logged. The tribe doesn't oppose logging but fears this sale will hurt their already suffering subsistence lifestyle.

Alaska Native tribes and corporations were among the few in Indian Country who objected to the policy. Sealaska Corporation, representing 16,000 Tlingit, Haida, and Tshimshian Natives in southeastern Alaska, had opposed the policy in the Tongass and Chugach National Forests.

The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho was part of a coalition in that state which resulted in the rules being halted by a federal judge.

Get the Story:
In Alaska, Logging Ban And Local Hopes Collide (The Washington Post 8/15)

Relevant Links:
Roadless Forest Plan - http://roadless.fs.fed.us
The US Forest Service - http://www.fs.fed.us

Related Stories:
Judge blocks controversial forest rules (5/11)
Decision on forest rules is big news (5/7)
Controversial forest plan delayed (2/6)
Roadless forest plan draws fire (1/8)