Tongass National Forest

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News Release Archives

2004

• Mid-term Review of Tongass Forest Plan Completed -
  (December 29) The Tongass National Forest revised its forest plan in 1997, and a recently completed comprehensive review shows that the plan is working well and the Forest is in good shape, Tongass officials report.
• Tongass Issues Kensington Gold Project Decision -
  (December 17) The Tongass National Forest announced publication of the Record of Decision today concerning the Kensington Gold Project Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.
• Forest Service Releases Tuxekan Draft EIS -
  (December 9) The Tongass National Forest has released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Tuxekan Island Timber Sale.
• Tongass Affirms Decisions on Heceta, Shady Projects -
  (December 1) The Tongass National Forest recently approved two timber harvest projects when it affirmed the Heceta Commercial Thinning Study and Shady Timber Sale.
• Tongass Issues Decision for Yakutat Salvage Project -
  (November 24) The Forest Service recently approved the salvage harvest of approximately 6 million board feet of “blowdown” timber from about 566 acres in the Upper Situk area on the Yakutat Ranger District.
• Forest Service Re-evaluates Gravina Decision -
  (November 19) The Forest Service has temporarily withdrawn the Gravina Island Timber Sale Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision for further review.
• Announcement Regarding Ricardo Sainz -
  (November 10) Ricardo Sainz, a fisheries biologist with the Tongass National Forest’s Ketchikan-Misty Fiords Ranger District, lost his life Nov. 4 while working near Bakewell Lake about 35 miles east of Ketchikan.
• Acting Ranger Selected for Wrangell District -
  (October 14) Michael Davis, who’s currently the environmental coordinator for the Manti-La Sal National Forest in Utah, has been selected for a four-month detail as the acting ranger for the Wrangell District.
• Acting Ranger Selected for Ketchikan-Misty Fiords District -
  (October 6) Lynn Kolund, Tongass National Forest recreation specialist in Ketchikan, has been selected as the new acting Ketchikan-Misty Fiords District ranger.
• Tongass Selects New Safety Officer -
  (October 5) Rick Fritz, who is currently the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service aviation manager for the Burns Interagency Fire Zone in Eastern Oregon, was recently selected as the Tongass National Forest safety officer.
• Forest Service Releases Emerald Bay Draft SEIS -
  (October 5) The Ketchikan Misty-Fiords Ranger District has released the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Emerald Bay Timber Sale.
• Award Winning Author and Renowned Historian Speaks to 100 Years of Forest Service History -
  (October 4) The Alaska Region of the U.S. Forest Service kicks off its 2005 Centennial celebration with a series of presentations by award winning author, renowned historian and decorated professor, Dr. Char Miller.
• Tongass Seeks Public Input On Salvage Timber Assessment -
  (August 26) The Tongass National Forest is seeking public input regarding the Yakutat II Salvage Timber Sale Environmental Assessment.
• Tongass Ranger Headed to D.C. Post -
  (August 19) For nearly six years he has led the Ketchikan-Misty Fiords Ranger District; now Jerry Ingersoll is headed to the nation’s capital..
• Forest Service Issues Gravina Decision -
  (August 16) The Forest Service recently approved the harvest of 37.9 million board feet of timber from approximately 1,800 acres in the Gravina project area on Gravina Island, located across Tongass Narrows from Ketchikan.
• Wrangell District Releases Shady Timber Decision -
  (August 13) The Forest Service recently approved the harvest of 4.6 million board feet of timber from 240 acres in the Shady project area within the Tongass National Forest.
• Wrangell Ranger Selected For Willamette NF Job -
  (August 12) After four years of leading the Tongass National Forest’s Wrangell Ranger District, Chip Weber is Oregon-bound.
• Hoonah Ranger District Finishes Bohemia Shelter -
  (July 27) The Tongass National Forest’s Hoonah Ranger District recently wrapped up construction of the new Bohemia Shelter located along Lisianski Inlet near Pelican.
• Beck Pleads Guilty To Marijuana Cultivation On National Forest -
  (July 27) U.S. Attorney Tim Burgess announced July 12 that Thorne Bay resident Charles Thomas Beck, 59, was sentenced to one felony count for growing marijuana plants.
• Federal Subsistence Hunting for Deer in Unit 2 Now Open -
  (July 27) The federal subsistence hunting season for deer in Alaska’s Game Management Unit 2 kicked off July 24 and runs through Dec. 31
• Forest Service Explains Yakutat Thinning Contracts -
  (July 13) The Tongass National Forest is planning some pre-commercial thinning work in the Yakutat area during the summer season.
• Forest Service Issues Timber Harvest Update -
  (July 9) The Forest Service has announced updates on the Threemile and Gravina timber sales within the Tongass National Forest.
• Tongass National Forest Lifts Fire Restrictions -
  (June 29) Restrictions on open fires outside of campgrounds and smoking outside of vehicles or cleared areas have been lifted on the Tongass National Forest effective June 29.
• Committee Plans Improvements at Ward Lake -
  (June 26) A new shelter and trail signs are coming to Ward Lake, courtesy of the Ketchikan Resource Advisory Committee and the Ketchikan-Misty Fiords Ranger District.
• Repeat of Dry Southeast Conditions Bring Reminder of Fire Restrictions on State and Federal Lands -
  (June 22) Open fires outside of campgrounds, smoking outside of vehicles or cleared areas, use of fireworks, and operation of motorized equipment without a working spark arrestor are all prohibited on the Tongass National Forest until further notice.
• Reservation System Now Available Online for Anan Wildlife Observatory -
  (June 22) The Wrangell Ranger District has announced that the website for reserving day-use permits for Anan Wildlife Observatory is now available at http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass
• Repeat of Dry Southeast Conditions Bring Reminder of Fire Restrictions on State and Federal Lands -
  (June 18) For the second time this spring, Alaska Division of Forestry and Tongass National Forest officials today announced that all campfires, warming fires and other fires on lands managed by the State of Alaska or the National Forest must be attended at all times, and all fires must be put out before those starting it leave.
• Bear Seminar Slated For June 16 -
  (June 10) The Sitka Bear Working Group, Alaska Department of Fish and Game and U.S. Forest Service are teaming up to host a free seminar titled “Living in Bear Country,” from 7 to 8 p.m. June 16 at Sheldon Jackson College’s Rasmusson Student Center.
• Unit 2 Deer Meetings Scheduled -
  (May 21) The Southeast Regional Advisory Council, Unit 2 Deer Planning Subcommittee, will meet about Prince of Wales Island (Unit 2) deer subsistence issues from 12:30 to 5 p.m. Thursday, May 27, and from 8 a.m. to noon Friday, May 28, at the Ted Ferry Center in Ketchikan.
• Dry Southeast Conditions Bring Reminder of Fire Restrictions on State and Federal Lands -
  (May 20) Alaska Division of Forestry and Tongass National Forest officials today announced that all campfires, warming fires and other fires on lands managed by the State of Alaska or the National Forest must be attended at all times, and all fires must be put out before those starting it leave.
• Sitka Students Learn About Tongass -
  (May 7) More than 125 5th-graders from Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School in Sitka got a first-hand look at natural resource management April 30 during a forestry education field day at Starrigavan Campground.
• Rangers Educate Visitors In Wilderness Classroom -
  (May 4) The Forest Service’s Wilderness Kayak Ranger Interpretive Program at the Ketchikan-Misty Fiords Ranger District educates visitors to Southeast Alaska in an uncommon classroom.
• Tongass Garners National Wilderness Award -
  (May 4) The Ketchikan-Misty Fiords Ranger District’s Wilderness Kayak Ranger Interpretive Program recently earned national recognition.
• Tongass Garners National Wilderness Award -
  (May 4) The Ketchikan-Misty Fiords Ranger District’s Wilderness Kayak Ranger Interpretive Program recently earned national recognition.
• Rangers Educate Visitors In Wilderness Classroom -
  (May 4) The Forest Service’s Wilderness Kayak Ranger Interpretive Program at the Ketchikan-Misty Fiords Ranger District educates visitors to Southeast Alaska in an uncommon classroom.
• Forest Service Updates Hubbard Glacier Status -
  (May 4) Hubbard Glacier is on the move and Forest Service officials are concerned it could once again block the entrance to Russell Fiord, near Yakutat, if it continues progressing at its current rate.

USDA Forest Service - Tongass National Forest
Last Modified: May 18, 2005