A Southeast isle community called Whale Pass has asked the state to look into carbon credits rather than a sale of timber. The state has said it will continue with the logging plan.
Whale Pass has fought for years against the sale of timber in state-owned land. The state has approved the project in the spring of this year to cut off about 300 acres of old growth that sits on a steep slope that runs behind the town. Residents complain that it’s too close.
“A clear-cut straight within the city. That’s right, within the back yard, ” said resident, James Greeley.
Greeley claims the proposed site is only 100 feet from the property boundary. Greeley is also an assembly member of the city and says that residents are worried about a variety of issues: increased exposure to winds, messing with the watersheds used to construct houses, and affecting streams of salmon as well as the city’s expanding tourism industry – the log-logging industry as well as the “visual eye-sores” over the land.
“No one’s actually anti-logging outside from this entire bunch,” said Greeley. “We’re simply suggesting we might not this sale of timber.”
Residents have contacted for the state to change the boundaries, but they were denied. The community is seeking to have the state review the project and instead seek credits for carbon offsets.
This is in line with a state law that permits the Department of Natural Resources to create a system that uses the forest land of the state to sell carbon offset credits. Companies will basically pay the state for keeping its trees healthy.
Governor Mike Dunleavy, who introduced the bill, said that the bill “will create new revenues that will benefit the state.”
Whale Pass’s City Assembly ratified an ordinance that supports carbon credits. Then Greeley wrote to the director for the Department of Natural Resources explaining their position that carbon credits could be more profitable than timber sales.
“The different is absurd, in fact,” Greeley said.
He claims that the city collaborated together with The Nature Conservancy of Alaska to make the profits estimates. The report indicates that carbon credits over time could yield anything from one to 7 million dollars, depending on the market price.
The state’s DNR declares that they don’t have an estimate as of yet on how much the sale of timber in Whale Pass will make. The project was put up for auction on the 14th of October. 14.
Nature Conservancy spokesperson, Amy Miller says carbon credits are an opportunity for everyone.
“They give the chance to communities to protect an asset that is vital to them, and earn money in this process.” She said.
A Whale Pass harvest needs four miles of roads for logging to be constructed which can be costly. Greeley believes that the state could increase its profits without all of the development needed.
“They’re saying that they’re not able to provide me with an extra buffer around my property, since they’re not able to finance the expense of constructing the road to even make the sale of the timber,” Greeley. “Versus that if they don’t need to build anything then they’ll earn 10 times the amount.”
Despite ongoing opposition the state is proceeding in the direction of the project despite ongoing opposition. The DNR office has agreed to an interview with this report. In a statement written by the DNR office the commissioner John Boyle repeated what the department has previously said that the constitution of the state stipulates it that DNR use natural resources on public land.
Boyle wrote that, while carbon offsets offer new possibilities, “Regular timber harvests in our Southeast State Forest ensures DNR fulfills this requirement.”
The two major logging firms located in Southeast -ALCAN in Ketchikan and ALCAN within Ketchikan as well as Viking Lumber on Prince of Wales Island The two companies have been requesting the state for sales of timber. The state’s DNR accuses on the Federal government of not offering timber opportunities on federal land due to the Roadless Rule.
On February 1, Greg Staunton, the state’s forester in charge, told CoastAlaska that they had to provide old-growth timber to nearby communities in certain cases.
“A large portion of the land base we’ve been given to manage here is situated close to the communities that are there,” Staunton said.
However, Katie Rooks says seeking a wood sale instead of carbon credits makes no sense. She is a member of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. She’s seen the numbers, and she says they don’t match.
“What Whale Pass sent the state is proof that the timber will be worth more for the state itself in the event that it remains in the tree,” Rooks said.
Rooks adds that there is the benefit of leaving the landscape to the town which is a community that lives on subsistence. A point which Whale Pass residents were asking the state to think about.
“The State’s reaction to the proposal is a scathing attack,” said Rooks. “It seems as if state is punishing the town it owns, which is the town of Whale Pass, due to the federal government’s inability to provide a the supply of timber. This is a shame.”
Other tribal and community governments in Prince of Wales island have also expressed opposition to the plan. The state is claiming that the logging may begin early next year, contingent on the harvester’s requirements.
