TCS will be sending comments on the Tonka Timber Sale DEIS. The Forest Service proposes harvesting between 25.2 to 53.4 million board feet of timber on the Lindenburg Peninsula, an area previously logged. The 5000 acres already cut have eliminated high value wildlife areas; with this additional sale, the southern half of the peninsula will be covered in clear cuts.
The proposed action , Alternative 2, would harvest the greatest amount of timber, using conventional and helicopter yarding systems. There would be 9.3 miles of new road construction, extending the existing road system. There is extensive controversy over the log staging area in the Pothole, a protected cove on the east coast of Woewodski. Log rafts have been shown to damage productive marine habitat. However, barging the logs to their destination is preferable as a means of protecting the personal, subsistence and commercial crab harvest in the Pothole.
Comments are due mid-December.
The Tonka DEIS documents can be downloaded here: http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/projects/nepa_project.shtml?project=21182