Victories

Timber Harvest on Native Lands in the Tongass Stopped

In Brief: A judge refused to let timber harvesting occur on Kuiu Island, a Native subsistence area of the Tongass National Forest because the U.S. Forest Service used misleading market information when issuing a permit.

Photo: Henry Hartley

A Clearcut Assault

The logging permit would have allowed 8.4 miles of roads to be constructed through roadless areas, and clearcutting over 621 acres. Natives of the nearby village of Kake enlisted Earthjustice's support to halt what they called an industrialized assault on their way of life.

There's No Market

Because it used outdated information and failed to compile an Environmental Impact Report, the Forest Service failed to convince the judge of any market demand for the tree harvest.

Forest Mismanagement Plan

On a small scale, the Kuiu Island logging scheme echoes what the Forest Service has been trying to allow throughout the Tongass -- wholesale commercial logging in groves of ancient trees. Thanks to Earthjustice, the courts have kept loggers away in recent years, but the Forest Service is coming back in November with yet another plan of attack on the Tongass.

Updated: October 5, 2007