VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 | FALL 2025
TIMBER INDUSTRY GETS RENEWED INTEREST
Trump, Dunleavy seek to spur industry with new forest policies BY TIM BRADNER ALASKA ONCE HAD A VIBRANT FOREST PRODUCTS INDUSTRY IN SOUTHEAST ALASKA, BUT OVER TIME CHANGES IN MANAGEMENT IN THE TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST, LAWSUITS BY CONSERVATION GROUPS, AND CHANGES IN EXPORT MARKETS HAVE RESULTED IN A SHARP REDUCTION IN THE INDUSTRY. President Donald Trump hopes to change that with new federal forest poli- cies. In addition, Alaska Gov. Mike Dun- leavy has plans to support the industry with wood sales from state-owned lands. In the years just after Alaska statehood and through the 1970s, large pulp mills in Sit- ka and Ketchikan — and the harvesting and support activity that went with them — were major contributors to the regional economy. Tourism, fisheries, government and health care are now important to Southeast communities, but they do not replace the high-paying jobs once provided by the for- est products industry. There is still some limited timber har- vesting, small sawmills and one medi- um-sized mill, Viking Lumber, still work- ing in the Southeast but there are continued uncertainties over wood supply. Viking em- ploys about 45 people year-around in Kla- wock, on Prince of Wales Island, which has a population of 1,000. Viking is a major supplier of high-quali- ty Sitka spruce for makers of high-end mu- sical instruments including Steinway Pia- nos. The company says it has enough wood supply to get through this winter but needs more for next year. The State of Alaska has stepped in to aid the remaining mills with wood from state lands. There are two state forests in the re- gion that conduct timber sales, the long-es- tablished Haines State Forest, and the new-
er Southeast State Forest established in 2010. There is also forest land owned by the University of Alaska and the Alaska Men- tal Health Land Trust, which are state lands managed separately, that can supply wood. While this has helped, it can’t replace wood supply that has been curtailed from the Tongass, the nation’s largest national forest. President Trump has now directed the U.S. Forest Service to increase timber sales from the Tongass and other national forests by 25% with new five-year plans, but these will take time to go into effect. Trump has also ordered an end to the “roadless rule,” a regulation that prohibits the forest service from building new roads in the Tongass to support harvesting. End- ing the roadless rule could help the remain- ing industry by providing more access for harvesting but there are other challenges that remain for the Tongass, mainly eco- nomic, which add complications. For example, Sealaska Corp., the Ju- neau-based Alaska Native regional corpo- ration, has shifted away from timber har-
vesting on its private lands in Southeast, which has reduced business for support companies in the region that also serve harvesting for remaining federal sales and the State of Alaska offerings. With fewer support companies, costs for all remaining operators are increased. “Changing management perspective by the U.S. Forest Service has decreased signif- icant (high-value) old-growth harvest on federal land in Southeast Alaska over the past decade,” the state Division of Forestry cited in an analysis. This has reduced access to the high-val- ue old growth, which is much in demand. The federal management will change with new policy by President Trump, but this will take time. “Meanwhile, efforts to substitute old- growth harvest with significant young- growth harvest on the Tongass have been slow to be realized,” according to the state analysis. There are complications in markets, too, including some created by geopolitical
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shifts. China has been a major customer for timber from Southeast, but tensions with the U.S. and tariff policies have changed this. “Legacy markets (for Alaska) in Japan and Korea are still present but have gener- ally waned,” the Division of Forestry wrote. “China had assumed the major role in con- suming the lower-quality old growth spruce and hemlock as well as the young growth timber that is now achieving commercial size in an increasing number of merchant- able timber stands. “China has indefinitely suspended log imports from the U.S. which has precipitated significant economic stress for most timber purchasers. Uncertainty with respect to tariff impacts and inflation has tempered market demand and impacted purchaser resilience.”
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www.AKRDC.org
ALASKA RESOURCE REVIEW FALL 2025
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