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 The
Conference continues to monitor the situation with the Tongass
Land Management Plan, and the appeal to its revision. Regional
forest resources play a big role in our local economy, and federal
government decision have a broad influence on local industry. We
remain hopeful that local input will be considered in the Forest
Planning process, as dictated in law. Timber Task Force Southeast Conference also recently formed a Timber Task Force, to address the issue of how to sustain a viable forest products industry in our region. Throughout statehood, the timber industry has been a mainstay of the Southeast economy. At its peak in the 1970s the Tongass generated 4,000 timber industry jobs in Southeast Alaska. Now the industry is in serious decline; through litigation and Clinton era forest management, it faces possible extinction. Currently, only three saw mills are operating in Southeast Alaska. The industry in the Southeast region has seen 1,700 direct jobs disappear in the last 10 years. Since 1990, the volume of timber harvested from the Tongass National Forest has declined 75 percent. Timber industry employment is at its lowest point in over 30 years, currently accounting for only about 600 to 650 direct jobs. The impact of the loss of timber industry jobs has rippled through the local economies in the region. The total job loss (including direct and indirect jobs) is estimated at approximately 2,900 jobs along with over $100 million in annual payroll in Southeast Alaska in the last 10 years. Southeast Alaska needs a healthy timber industry to support its economy. Although we know that the timber industry will not rise to the level of its past role in the economy of Southeast Alaska, we also know that the Tongass can and should support and a sustainable workforce and industry on a larger scale than exists currently. The mayors who make up the Southeast Conference Timber Task Force know first hand the impact that a declining timber industry can have on a community. They have developed several potential options with the goal of revitalizing the timber industry, and by extension, their own communities. Photo Copyright © Grace Kirkwood at www.princeofwalesonline.com Back to top 
Southeast ConferenceP.O.Box 21989, Juneau, Alaska 99802-1989. Phone: (907) 523-2310 Fax: (907) 463-5670 info@seconference.org Copyright © 2002, Southeast Conference, all rights reserved. Site designed by WebWeavers, LLC |
