Tongass: A Forest of Salmon

Bristol Bay gets the bulk of this blog's attention, but you best believe that I am paying attention to the goings on down Southeast Alaska in the forests of the Tongass. The Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the country. Its waters are home to abundant salmon runs for all five species of salmon, not to mention dollies, grayling, and some healthy steehlead! If we look at the fate and future of Pacific salmon, the waters of Southeast are another key piece of the puzzle shared with Southwest, AK.

Economically, Southeast Alaska salmon and trout provide an important source of employment and income for thousands of fishermen and fishing business owners. According to a study commissioned by Trout Unlimited, Southeast Alaska salmon and trout in 2007 provided close to 11% of regional jobs and supported almost a $1 billion industry that includes local commercial, sport, hatchery and subsistence fisheries (full study available here). In 2011, Southeast Alaska produced the largest salmon harvest in the state, with fishermen hauling in a total of 73.5 million fish worth in excess of $200 million dollars.

Now, Southeast Alaska is also known for a robust history of logging old growth in the rainforests, that logging has in many spots left salmon waters degraded to varying degrees. In some spots, there are some pretty outstanding examples of stream restoration. But restoration is time and cost intensive. So why not protect key areas to begin with.

In the Tongass, with 17,000 miles of clean, undammed flowing waters, an opportunity exists to protect vital salmon habitat for the future. Leaders working in fisheries ocnservaiton, namely Trout Unlimited and The Nature Conservancy, have identified 77 high-value areas and watersheds, the best of the best, if you will. These areas are the priority for the fate and future of the Southeast's salmon.

“The Tongass is America’s salmon forest and one of the few places in the world where wild salmon and trout still thrive. Some 65 percent of  Tongass salmon and trout habitat is not Congressionally protected at the watershed scale, and is currently open to development activities that could harm fish. It’s time for Congress to better protect the richest resource of the Tongass: wild salmon.” (Tim Bristol, Director TU Alaska Program)

The goal, then, is to achieve land designation that would protect these areas through a legislative land use designation. Thanks to the Tongas Timber Reform Act of 1990, there is precident for designating areas of the Tongass as protected - chosen for special management because of their critical importance for fish and wildlife habitat and their high value to tourism and recreation. In the end, the aim is to have these high priority areas designated with similar classification. As is the case in Bristol Bay, your voice matters immensely.

Even if you've never fished in Southeast Alaska, we as anglers thrive on knowing that such special, healthy, and robust places exist. If you have fished there, you have a voice to speak from experience. But all voices matter. So, follow the Link and add  your voice to those seeking to ensure that these areas, currently open for development, recieve the protection they deserve. More than anything, check out American Salmon Forest and learn more about the salmon of Souteast, AK. And if you can you should get there and do some fishing!

Comments

[J.R. Mehrkens]

I am a director of a new non-profit called the Greater Southeast Alaska Conservation Community. We have a viewpoint different from TU as the Tongass 77 largely depends on giving up the highest quality habitat on Prince of Wales Island. While the Tongass 77 watersheds are not legally protected like Wilderness, many of these areas are not at risk from logging. More details are provided at our website GSACC.net

[Sarahi]

By jim brady March 31, 2011 - 12:06 pmRobert Bittner brings up The Trout Pool Paradox. Growing up in Connecticut, I wetahcd the evolution of the Housatonic River into one of the finest fisheries in the country. I also enjoyed reading about people I actually knew, such as Ed Kluck and Will Downs, both of whom impacted my life in a positive manner. I haven't re-read it yet so perhaps it is time to. Thanks for including Black's book in your list, Robert.

[Totor]

By Chris Biggar April 2, 2011 - 8:42 amAll books by Ernie Schwiebert, He was also the best to listen to at the United Fly Tyers prnenetatioss.The Fishing's Only Part of It Dana LambSteelhead Paradise John Fennelly, Song of the Reel George Frederick Clarke, a great Salmon read

[John]

By Loren November 2, 2011 - 11:39 amThere's a herd of elephants in the room, here. To be fair, there was bound to be in such a short list.But Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler, even after 350 years, is still araulbgy the most charming fishing book around: perhaps it’s not strictly a “trout and salmon book”—okay, if you want to get picky. Don’t get me wrong: I love several of the books listed in the article, but do we really think that ALL of them are better than Roderick Haig-Brown’s A River Never Sleeps? (Right on, Chadd!) Omissions like that make you wonder.And where are Foote and Traver? McGuane and Lyons? Where are Van Dyke, Lang, and Pertwee? McManus and Zern? Where’s Sparse Grey Hackle? None of these are top-twelve material? Not even Hemingway's Nick Adams stories? I guess my real issue is that trying to list the “twelve best trout and salmon books of all time” is rather a losing proposition from the start. I sincerely hope that Trout will have another go at this, and this time we should get a list of, say, around two hundred great fishing works and/or writers. It might take more space and more work in compilation, but I’d be overjoyed to have it during the coming cold and snowy winter!