Editorial: Compromise on Tongass NF should be free of "careless charges" on both sides
Of all of Alaska's many superlative attributes, the Tongass National Forest is one of the finest. Comprising all but 2 million acres of the Alexander Archipelago (Alaska's southeast panhandle), it is the nation's largest national forest and home to the largest and most extensive stands of old-growth timber left in the United States.
In a rather strange way, the Tongass has been a fairly consistent bellwether of Alaska's continuing struggle to produce a viable economy while at the same time respecting the unique and extraordinary environment that defines the state.
The Tongass is a huge rain forest, 17 million acres, a third the size of Washington state. About 5.75 million acres are designated wilderness. About 7 million acres are wetlands, snow, ice and rock; only 10 million acres are forested. About half of the forested lands are old-growth, 70 percent of which is in protected areas and not eligible for harvest.