Alaska’s timber industry — which has shed 72% of its forestry and logging jobs since 2005 — has been thrown a lifeline, with the U.S. Forest Service and the State of Alaska signing a 20‑year shared stewardship agreement that will open up to 300,000 acres of the Tongass National Forest — the nation’s largest — for state‑led timber harvesting, forest restoration and wildfire mitigation.
That is according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, which confirmed that the deal — signed by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Fire Protection — expands cross‑boundary forest management through Good Neighbor Authority and comes as timber sector employment across Southeast Alaska has collapsed 65% since 2005.
Governor Mike Dunleavy, who worked in a logging camp in Southeast Alaska earlier in his career, said the deal would be “a lifeline to the blue‑collar Alaskan workers in Southeast Alaska who President Biden and previous administrations sought to keep out of work by managing the Tongass as if it were a National Park.”
The agreement stems from Trump’s Order to Expand Timber Production.
Last year, Wood Central reported that the order reversed Biden’s pledge to protect old‑growth forests from logging and granted the USDA sweeping new powers to salvage timber across more than 112 million acres of National Forest System land — with Trump telling reporters at the time: “We’re so restricted environmentally… We have more forests than almost anybody. We don’t need anybody’s trees.”
Earlier this year, Wood Central reported that the last Alaskan sawmill capable of supplying Sitka spruce to Steinway & Sons had sued the U.S. government over broken promises, with Viking Lumber Company in Klawock receiving just 10–22% of its promised timber supply over the past four years. And last year, Republican members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources flew to Alaska to push for more Tongass logging to address the region’s housing shortage. “You ought to at least be able to cut enough timber to sustain your needs here at home, and that will make the forest healthier,” Committee Chair Rep. Bruce Westerman (R‑Arkansas) said at the time.
For US Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz — a former vice president at Idaho Forest Group who was appointed by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in February 2025 — said the agencies will actively manage the Tongass to create healthy forests while contributing to a stable rural economy. Under the agreement, both agencies will develop a timber action plan by the end of 2026 that identifies priority projects on the 16.7‑million‑acre forest, including reliable timber offerings and an evaluation of longer‑term contracting options.
“This shared stewardship agreement is a level of federal coordination and prioritisation to maximise the value of Alaska’s national forests unlike what Alaska has seen in years. The goals of the agreement — economic opportunity, public safety, forest health, community resiliency, and rural prosperity — are needed now more than ever.”
John Crowther, DNR Commissioner‑designee, State of Alaska
Wood Central understands the partnership will extend well beyond timber to cover fuel reduction and wildfire mitigation, response to insect and disease threats, infrastructure development and access, workforce training, investment in milling and harvesting technology, technical assistance to private and non‑federal landowners, and coordination on wildlife habitat, recreation and authorised development activities.
As it stands, the Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection manages 20 million acres of state lands and provides fire protection across 154 million acres statewide. The Forest Service manages the 5.4‑million‑acre Chugach National Forest alongside the Tongass — yet, according to Forest Service data, of the 410,000 acres of young growth on the Tongass, just 8,750 acres are considered commercially viable in 2026, totalling approximately 198 million board feet.
The agreement was signed just six days after a 30‑day public comment period opened on revising the Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan — the first revision since 1997. “We’re taking another step forward in the process to modernise the Tongass National Forest plan by prioritising long‑term regional prosperity, adapting to 25 years of economic and ecological changes,” Tongass National Forest Supervisor Monique Nelson said earlier this month.
Alaska is now the fifth state to sign a shared stewardship deal under Trump, joining Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. Wood Central previously reported that Idaho was among the first to join, with Governor Brad Little directing state agencies to partner with the Forest Service across all seven of the state’s national forests. “Years of fire suppression and declining timber harvest have left us with significant fuel buildup,” Chief Schultz has said. “I want us to do more to create resilient forests through active forest management.”
Meanwhile, the Alaska Forest Association hailed the recent thaw in U.S.–China timber trade as a further boost for Southeast Alaska’s mills, which have historically relied on Chinese markets for up to 40% of their exports. The Tongass remains one of the few national forests where federal law permits the export of unprocessed logs — a practice banned elsewhere to protect domestic mills — making the Chinese market essential for the survival of Alaska’s remaining operators.
- To learn more about the Trump administration’s plans to expand timber production across the United States — including sweeping new powers granted to the Forest Service — click here for Wood Central’s exclusive coverage. To learn more about the Steinway piano supply crisis linked to the Tongass, click here.
