The Alaska Forest Association and two of its members have taken legal action against the US Forest Service.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, seeks to compel the federal agency to comply with the Tongass Timber Reform Act’s mandate for timber sales, a move that could help revive the struggling timber industry in southeast Alaska.
“Federal law requires the Forest Service to sell enough timber every year to meet market demand,” said Frank Garrison, attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, which represents the plaintiffs that include Viking Lumber and Alcan Timber. “By refusing to meet that requirement, failing to follow through on its own 2016 Management Plan, and issuing informal guidance rather than following formal federal rulemaking procedures, the agency has violated federal law three times over.”
The dispute stems from the US Forest Service’s 2016 Management Plan, which outlined a gradual transition from selling old-growth timber to younger trees over a ten-year period. The plan was designed to ensure a stable supply of timber during the transition, gradually reducing old-growth sales while increasing the harvest of younger trees. However, the plaintiffs argue that the agency abandoned the plan, ceasing old-growth timber sales immediately and failing to provide sufficient young-growth timber as promised.
In 2021, the Biden Administration’s Forest Service further tightened restrictions by issuing a guidance document that formally ended old-growth timber sales altogether—without a formal rulemaking process or adequate replacement sales of young-growth timber. The Alaska Forest Association argues that these actions have devastated the local timber industry, which once supported more than 4,000 jobs but has now dwindled to only 300 positions.
Timber harvested in Alaska has long been used for various products, from household fences to Steinway pianos. The industry was once a cornerstone of many southeast Alaska communities, providing stable employment and economic security for thousands of families. The abrupt policy shifts, however, have left sawmills struggling, businesses shuttered, and local economies reeling.
“Federal agencies cannot decide by fiat to ignore the law and make up their own rules that harm businesses and workers,” Garrison emphasized. “The U.S. Forest Service’s failure to uphold its obligations under federal law is not just a bureaucratic oversight—it has real-world consequences for communities that depend on this industry.”
The lawsuit, Alaska Forest Association v. Rollins, aims to force the U.S. Forest Service to honor its legal obligations and restore timber sales that sustain the region’s industry. If successful, the case could set a precedent for holding federal agencies accountable when they fail to follow statutory requirements. The case was assigned by the chief judge Sharon Gleason to her caseload. Gleason has a reputation for siding with the government against businesses.
As the legal battle unfolds, Alaska’s dying timber industry and its supporters hope for a resolution that will allow the sector to rebuild, protect existing jobs, and ensure that sustainable forestry remains a viable part of the state’s economy.
President Trump issued an executive order on March 1st regarding logging ‘https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/immediate-expansion-of-american-timber-production/’
I guess we will once again see if Judge Gleason believes in the rule of law, or if she believes she makes the law.
The definition of old growth timber has become “any tree that makes you feel good”. If the USFS does not want to sell “old growth” on the Tongass, there are several areas within the forest that contain timber in the 60-to-75-year age class that are ready for harvest. The fact is, the Tongass, like its cousin the Chugach, is not being managed as a multiple use national forest. The national forests are supposed to be managed, whenever possible, to meet a multiple use mandate that recognizes six prongs: watershed, wildlife, timber supply, grazing, mining and outdoor recreation. Obviously, not every one of the 154 national forests can meet all of these prongs. However, where there is demand for timber and timber potentially available, converting a national forest into a recreation-only forest flies in the face of this mandate. Perhaps the answer for those national forests that are managed only for recreation like the Tongass and the Chugach, is to convert these forests into national recreation areas. The year-round staffs could be reduced to just recreation specialists and a few cops since the only function of the forest would be recreation. This small permanent staff and some seasonals could handle things.
The Tongass National Forest is home to an threatened species. The Alaska Logger!
Seems that their are more Environmental Lawyers working in Southeast Alaska these days then Timber Fallers.
One could argue that abuses in forestry practices beginnings in 1950’s to help rebuild Japan’s economy were to blame.
The geniuses in the State Department, not unlike Vickie Nuland, ( see Ukraine today) concocted a deal to help Japan. The result was a government sponsored logging program. L P jumped on board later and based their operations out of Ward Cove.
Later Native corporations scalped vast tracks and made out like Banksters, since they exported their logs to hungry mills in Japan.
What remains is vast tracks of high value old growth and a burgeoning forest of second growth, perfect for manufacture of engineered wood products.
I hope this law suit helps loggers. They deserve much better. And oh, the timber in S.E. is worth lots of CA$H
ALL Old Growth Foests should be Protected!!
I lived on a floating camp in Southeastern Alaska in the mid-60’s, when my father was still logging. In 2001, my wife and I road the ferry from Ketchikan to Juneau, and as nearly as I could tell, they were logging the same area my father did, 35 years before. Trees grow. We can log responsibly, and have the wood we need for lumber, fuel, and other needs. Let the uneducated “environmentalists” go chew spruce gum.
Yep, trees are a true renewable resource. Most people don’t know that the Forest Service is a part of the USDA or the U.S. Department of Agriculture, trees are a crop. Cutting of old growth is also a better way to store carbon long term as the new trees store more of it while growing than the old growth does standing. Of course those who believe in anthropogenic global warming don’t believe in science so they deny obvious facts and demand that old growth trees remain standing.
I’ll take Things I Didn’t Expect Expect To See In My Lifetime for $1,000, Alex. Well done, AFA.