Is it possible to see the forest for more than trees? This is the question at the heart of Alaska Venture Fund’s Tongass Initiative. With 17 million acres of rich coastlines, cultures, teeming life forms, and unparalleled beauty, the Tongass can be an example of planning done right.

We are tackling one of the most significant public lands opportunities in Alaska – revising the almost 30-year-old Tongass National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (TLMP). A forest management plan guides management decisions and activities for the U.S. Forest Service on a given national forest. It determines what is prioritized on a national forest – e.g., restoration, road building, timber harvest, carbon storage, trail maintenance and wildlife habitat conservation – and guides Forest Service spending.

The 1997 TLMP was written in an era when Southeast Alaska, through federal subsidies and a focus on international export, still prioritized large-scale clear-cut logging. Over the past three decades, focus has shifted to tourism, government services, fishing and small business development. Recent federal investments also shifted – from export logging and roadbuilding to a regional “sustainability strategy” that invested $20 million into projects like the Sustainable Southeast Partnership. Economies, ecologies, and identities on the Tongass now better reflect the geographic diversity of the island archipelago that is our home.

Many of us have “grown up” with this old forest plan, and in doing so, learned through experience how heavily a forest plan impacts what tools and investments are available. This new plan offers a unique and powerful opportunity to shape the future of our nation’s largest national forest.

In the 1990s, I was a graduate student studying endemic mammals across the islands of the Tongass National Forest, that is, mammals found only in these habitats. Our research and that of many others indicates that the Tongass National Forest is home to some of the most unique forms of plants and animals, including some found nowhere else on Earth. These are what we call “hotspots” of biological diversity.

We have also learned more about the importance of the Tongass as a storehouse of carbon. Research that was not available in the 1990s illustrates that the Tongass plays a critical role in climate mitigation, sequestering and storing up to 44% of all the carbon stored in U.S. National Forests. We also now know that over 90% of that carbon is stored in the oldest and largest 1% of trees on the Tongass. What is good for the old-growth-specific wildlife species is also good for a cooler future for all of us. A new forest management plan could incorporate this evolving knowledge in its strategies and guidelines.

The Tongass is an Indigenous place, and Indigenous stewardship has been and will continue to be the sustainable path for forest management. Partnerships like Klawock Indigenous Stewards Forest Partnership and Ḵéex̱’ Ḵwáan Community Forest Partnership are restoring the forest through a new vision for salmon, people, cedar, and enduring sustenance. A new forest plan could prioritize these Indigenous-led, community-based forestry partnerships.

Forest planning is a multi-year process. The draft assessment for the new forest plan revision is available for public input until February 24, 2025. The final assessment, due in spring 2025, will lay the groundwork for the “need for change,” a formal statement that explains why a national forest is undertaking a new planning effort.

The Forest Service will then do additional research and outreach to inform a set of draft “alternatives” – options for what future management of the Tongass should look like. Ultimately, the Forest Service will select an “alternative” to guide management over the coming decades.

Alaska Venture Fund is working with a team of regional partners, legal and policy experts, and community organizers to facilitate robust public review and engagement throughout this process. The future of the Tongass is in our hands.

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To hear more from Natalie about the Tongass, Natalie’s journey, and how she cultivates passion and purpose, listen to Episode 34 of The Shadows Run podcast, released February 2.

Written by Dr. Natalie Dawson, Alaska Venture Fund’s Director of Strategic Partnerships
Published: February 2025

Title image by Nathaniel Wilder
Additional photos generously provided by Colin Arisman of Wild Confluence Media and Nathaniel Wilder.
Map by Colin Shanley