Background
The Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the United States, spanning 17 million acres in Southeast Alaska. The majority of the forest is considered temperate rainforest and is home to endangered and rare flora and fauna. The forest is primarily made up of western red cedar, sitka spruce, and western hemlock. Roughly 40% of the national forest area consists of wetland, snow, ice, rock, or non-vegetated lands. Of the forested lands, roughly 30% of it has been subjected to deforestation. The remaining 70% is considered protected lands and should never be eligible for harvest. The forest is administered by the U.S. Forest Service based in Ketchikan, Alaska. The Tongass Forest Plan, updated in 2016, outlines management strategies for the forest as required by the National Forest Management Act.
The Tongass National Forest is at the center of a variety of interests, including conservation, forestry, fisheries, and tourism. The Tongass Futures Roundtable was formed to create a collaborative approach to help resolve various issues that pertain to the management of Tongass National Forest. The Roundtable brought together a diverse group of stakeholders to discuss how to incorporate economic, cultural, and ecological values in public policy issues throughout the region. The Roundtable was limited to 35 members and membership was reviewed annually to assure broad representation. The group met quarterly at locations throughout southeast Alaska. Representatives from conservation groups, Alaska Native tribes, logging companies, local governments, the U.S. Forest Service, and other state and federal agencies held seats on the Tongass Futures Roundtable.
Implementation
The Tongass Futures Roundtable discussed topics ranging from forest restoration and protection of cultural sites to how climate change affects the Tongass National Forest. Multiple restoration projects were launched and completed throughout the forest, ranging from riparian restoration, fish passage enhancement, road decommissioning, and riparian thinning for wildlife. Increasing the health of the Tongass National Forest will enhance its ability to cope with the impacts of climate change. While no project is explicitly categorized as dealing with climate change adaptation, restoration efforts generally enhance a system’s resilience. The Tongass Futures Roundtable recognized the potential effects of climate change and believed that proper restoration and protection may offer the greatest sources of resilience. In 2008, the Tongass Futures Roundtable worked in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service to defer timber harvesting indefinitely on approximately one million acres of temperate old-growth forest that had been slated for logging. Protecting large, intact ecosystems may reduce the impacts of climate change in the future. The Tongass Futures Roundtable also considered the possibility of using the healthy forest as a source of carbon sequestration credits.
Citation
Feifel, K. (2021). Considering Climate Change in the Tongass National Forest and Southeast Alaska through the Tongass Futures Roundtable [Case study on a project of The Nature Conservancy - Juneau]. Version 2.0. Product of EcoAdapt's State of Adaptation Program. (Last updated April 2021)
This case study was originally published on the EcoAdapt Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange.
