Alaska Department of Natural Resources staff are gearing up to present the head of the department with a plan that would significantly alter how the Haines State Forest is managed. That's after agency staff spent months reviewing and responding to public input on an earlier draft.
But according to agency documents, the majority of the changes recommended by the public — including overwhelming opposition to opening the entire forest to timber harvest for the first time — went unaddressed in the final version.
"They pretty much said no to everything we suggested," said Mark Sogge, the vice chair of the Upper Lynn Canal Fish and Game Advisory Committee.
"I don't feel like our input made a difference to them whatsoever," he added, "which was sort of what they said right from the beginning."
The process to revise the current plan started in 2023, when the Dunleavy administration directed DNR's Division of Forestry and Fire Protection to allow for the development of carbon credit projects.
By 2024, the division had received another instruction: to better support the regional timber industry and align the Haines plan with the statute that created the forest.
Geneva Preston, a forest planner with the division, said the agency's read of the statute is that a range of activities – including timber harvest, recreation, mining and more – should be permitted within the entire forest. That contradicts the current plan, which prohibits logging in areas designated for things like recreation and wildlife habitat.
"A blanket limitation on one of those activities, over tens of thousands of acres inside this resource management area, doesn't make sense," Preston said. "It doesn't line up with the way that that area is described in the statutes that created it."
Areas previously designated for habitat or recreation will remain that way. But under the new plan, those areas would also be available for timber harvest, as long as a proposed sale supports the primary use and meets certain conditions – like limits on clearcuts in some areas.
One example is Chilkoot Lake. The area's primary use is recreation. The new plan would also allow logging, but clearcuts would have to be smaller than 20 acres.
Broad opposition to opening the whole forest to timber harvest
At least three public comments supported the changes in hopes that more logging would boost the local economy.
"I [am] in complete favor of any logging you want to do," wrote Kimberly Rosado of Haines. "We need to as a community to bring in economics. My family has left, others are leaving by the droves."
But most commenters recommended significant changes, including the Department of Fish and Game and the Chilkat Indian Village.
Fish and Game recommended that DNR prohibit commercial logging in three separate areas: the Ferebee Valley, Kelsall River and Chilkat Ridge. The department said accessing the unlogged part of Chilkat Ridge would require a new bridge across either the Tsirku or Chilkat River, which would pose risks to eagle and fish habitat.
The ridge, which currently has forestry designated as its primary use, is directly across from Klukwan. Chilkat Indian Village President Kimberley Strong suggested it be designated instead for wildlife habitat, "to align with the area's highest and best long-term use."
The tribe also suggested the agency further limit or forbid clearcut harvests, particularly in areas designated for habitat wildlife or public recreation.
"Clearcutting at any scale threatens to sever the sustained connections between wildlife habitat, recreation and our traditional uses," wrote Strong, who also called on the agency to make a long list of other changes, including implementing a formal consultation process between the division and the tribe.
Others, like Sogge, of the area fish and game advisory committee, argued that logging is not compatible with public recreation or wildlife habitat to begin with.
"Most of our input had to do with the fact that we didn't believe that all of the forest should be open to logging, that some of the landscape should be protected for fish and wildlife habitat," he said.
Preston, of the Division of Forestry, said that while she appreciates the public concern, the Dunleavy administration's instructions essentially made the changes a foregone conclusion.
"The comments we received that said it should go back to the way it was in 2002. Like no, we didn't make those changes," Preston said.
"We are trying to truly reflect the description in our statutes, that this is an area that's identified for Alaskans to use – recreation, subsistence, timber harvests, and all," she added.
The agency did make some technical changes to the plan based on public input. It now recommends three new sections be added to highlight existing policies and knowledge regarding cultural resource sites, forest resilience amid climate change, and carbon offsets.
State's carbon credit plan a poor fit for Haines
The new plan does accomplish the agency's original goal of allowing for the development of carbon credit projects within the forest. But there's a caveat: The state is pursuing a type of project that won't work in Haines.
DNR originally focused on generating credits by intentionally harvesting fewer trees than would be legally permitted – in theory, that would reduce potential greenhouse gas emissions. But amid global regulatory changes, the state shifted its focus to projects that aim to reforest lands affected by wildfire, the Chilkat Valley News reported in August.
DNR is partnering with project developer Finite Carbon to implement a small pilot project in Interior Alaska next year to "establish a proof of concept" and scalability statewide, a spokesperson said in an email.
Haines-based Regional Forester Greg Palmieri said those types of projects hold promise in the Interior, due to widespread wildfires. But forests in Southeast Alaska rarely burn.
"How that can apply down here is not clear," Palmieri said.
The public had until Nov. 2 to submit feedback on the plan and recommended revisions. Next, division staff will present the final version to the commissioner, who would ultimately approve the plan.