Alaska should increase logging inside the Tongass National Forest to meet the growing demand for local housing, according to several Republican members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, who are part of a 45-member delegation that travelled to Alaska this week during the congressional recess.
“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,” said Committee Chair Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas). Meanwhile, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) added that selective thinning could help reduce wildfire risk. “You can’t let a lightning fire start where the undergrowth hasn’t been taken care of,” he said. “That’s how we lost the 19 firefighters in Yarnell. … I think there needs to be common sense in that aspect. Get people out on the timber, get the timber, and use it for something like building homes. This place needs a lot of homes.”
The bipartisan delegation—eight Republicans and two Democrats—spent several days touring key sites across Alaska. On Monday, the group visited Hecla Greens Creek Mine, which produces silver, gold, zinc, and lead from a site west of Juneau. They also flew over portions of the Tongass—the largest national forest in the United States—and observed Suicide Basin in the Mendenhall Glacier, a site linked to recent glacial floods that have inundated parts of Juneau.
“Obviously, Alaska is a big natural resources state, so we’re here seeing things on the ground, so that when we’re talking about [them] in Washington, D.C., it’s not just an academic exercise for us,” said Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah). Among the delegation were Alaska Rep. Nick Begich (R), who called the visit “historic for Alaska,” and Committee Chair Westerman. Also attending were Reps. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyoming), Tom Tiffany (R-Wisconsin), Pete Stauber (R-Minnesota), Rob Wittman (R-Virginia), Val Hoyle (D-Oregon), and Sarah Elfreth (D-Maryland).
“It is imperative that we visit these places, so that we have a better understanding when they come before us and ask for relief—whether it is in permitting reform or in ways to better manage the resources that we have,” said Hageman. The delegation is expected to continue its tour in southcentral Alaska, where it will address the Alaska Oil and Gas Association’s annual meeting in Anchorage.
The visit comes amid growing concern over the U.S. Forest Service’s decision to curtail old-growth logging in the Tongass—a move that could have significant consequences for pianos, violins and guitars. Sitka spruce, a timber prized for its acoustic properties, is used in the soundboards of Steinway & Sons pianos, as well as in guitars and violins worldwide.
Last week, Kirk Dahlstrom, owner of Viking Lumber Company in Klawock, Alaska, said the decision has left mills scrambling for resources. Viking is now the last U.S. sawmill capable of supplying the high-grade Sitka spruce Steinway requires. “We’re not asking for anything new. We’re asking for what was promised,” Dahlstrom told Fox Business. “This isn’t just about pianos. It’s about guitars, violins, and the entire music industry that depends on Sitka spruce. Our company may soon be out of business, as the feds renege on their agreement with the timber industry.”
Sarah Dahlstrom-Lehnert, spokesperson for Viking Lumber, stated that the company has received only 10–22% of its promised timber supply over the past four years. Viking, along with the Alaska Forest Association and Alcan Timber Incorporated, has filed a lawsuit against the Forest Service, alleging violations of both the 2016 Tongass Management Plan and the Tongass Timber Reform Act of 1990. “Steinway is very concerned that without this supply, their factory in Queens, New York would be in jeopardy,” Dahlstrom-Lehnert said. “We are the sole supplier to Steinway.”
- To learn why huge volumes of Alaskan timber once traded to China, are now be rerouted, click here for Wood Central’s special feature from last month.
