The Tongass is home to a third of the world’s remaining old growth temperate rainforest, and most of the old growth remaining in the United States. The 2001 Roadless Rule protected 9.2 million acres of the Tongass from clearcut logging and the roads it requires.

How much old growth is left on Tongass?

The Tongass is home to a third of the world’s remaining old growth temperate rainforest, and most of the old growth remaining in the United States. The 2001 Roadless Rule protected 9.2 million acres of the Tongass from clearcut logging and the roads it requires.

What is special about Tongass National Forest?

The Tongass is the nation’s largest national forest and covers most of Southeast Alaska, surrounding the famous Inside Passage and offers unique chances to view eagles, bears, spawning salmon, and the breath-taking vistas of “wild” Alaska.

What plants are in the Tongass National Forest?

Western red cedar, yellow-cedar, mountain hemlock, and shore pine make up most of the rest.

• Sitka spruce (Alaska’s state tree) Picea sitchensis.
• Western hemlock. Tsuga heterophylla.
• Mountain hemlock. Tsuga mertensiana.
• Shore Pine. Pinus contorta Dougl.
• Yellow-cedar. Chamaecyparis nootkatensis.
• Western redcedar. Thuja plicata.

Do people live in the Tongass?

At roughly the size of West Virginia, the Tongass National Forest is also the largest national forest in the U.S. and home to approximately 70,000 people living in 32 communities, including the state capital, Juneau.

How old is Tongass National Forest?

800 years old
Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska is the world’s largest remaining intact coastal temperate rain forest. At almost 17 million acres, this unique area houses some of the oldest trees in the nation—many over 800 years old—and provides essential habitat for the largest population of Bald Eagles in the world.

Who lives in the Tongass?

Alaska Natives have continuously inhabited the Tongass for more than 10,000 years, residing with salmon, bears, wolves, eagles, and whales. The first nations include the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian.

How many bears live in the Tongass National Forest?

The Tongass is home to healthy populations of animals that have become uncommon in other areas of the United States. Biologists estimate that 1,700 coastal brown (grizzly) bears, the highest density in North America, roam Admiralty Island and share the island with large populations of nesting bald eagles.

How many trees are in the Tongass forest?

There are 9,933,000 (9.9 million) forested acres in the Tongass and 6,949,000 (6.9) acres of the Tongass are not forested. That means 58% of the Tongass is covered by trees and 41% is covered by rock, meadows, water, etc.

What is the Tongass roadless rule?

The Alaska Roadless Rule, approved on Oct. 29, 2020, exempted the Tongass from the 2001 Roadless Rule, which prohibited road construction, reconstruction and timber harvest in inventoried roadless areas – with limited exceptions.

Who owns the Tongass National Forest?

Sealaska Corporation
632,000 acres (2,560 km2) of those lands were hand-picked old growth areas of the Tongass National Forest and are still surrounded by public National Forest land. These lands are now privately held and under the management of Sealaska Corporation, one of the native regional corporations created under the ANCSA.

What type of forest is the Tongass?

temperate rainforest
Comprising the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, the Tongass is a place filled with islands and salmon streams, where towering mountains sweep down into thick old-growth forest and granite cliffs drop into deep fjords.

How much of the Tongass has been logged?

The average log size on the Tongass is about 12 inches. Haven’t 70% of the biggest trees and best timber stands already been logged? About seven percent of the total productive old-growth (400,000 acres out of 5,400,000 acres) has been harvested over the last 100 years.