JUNEAU , Alaska- The Traitors Cove Project has received the go-ahead from the highest Forest Service authority in Alaska. Regional Forester Dennis Bschor this week upheld Tongass National Forest Supervisor Forrest Cole’s decision to authorize the project on Revillagigedo Island, 20 miles north of Ketchikan, Alaska.

Bschor agreed with Cole’s approval of the selected alternative, Alternative 2 with modifications. It allows the harvest of 17.1 million board feet of timber from 905 acres, and the construction of 7.14 miles of National Forest System road and 1.21 miles of temporary road in the Traitors Cove project area. No harvest or road construction is proposed in North Revilla Roadless Area 526. All new roads will be placed in storage or decommissioned after completion of the project.

Cole had modified Alternative 2 to drop Unit S07 due to multiple resource concerns, including cultural and traditional uses, and the largest known population of a rare plant in Alaska—the lesser round-leaf orchid.

The Forest Service received one appeal from an alliance of three environmental groups—the Cascadia Wildlands Project, Greenpeace, and the Juneau Group of the Sierra Club.

Complainants questioned the deer model used to determine sufficient deer habitat for the support of wolf standards, subsistence and human-related uses. The appeal reviewing officer found that the Traitors Cove Final Environmental Impact Statement used the most recently approved deer habitat capability model developed for the Forest Plan to evaluate the quality of deer winter habitat in the project area.

The project is expected to create 82 year-round jobs to support local and regional economies.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Further details are available in the attached documents: