DNR proposes expanding areas available for logging in Haines State Forest

Haines State Forest. (Creative Commons photo by ~dgies)

By Rashah McChesney

Chilkat Valley News

Revisions to the management plan for the Haines State Forest could be available for public review as early as this winter and could lead to significant changes in land use and management. 

Instead of discussing the particulars of the state’s new carbon offset push that prompted the amendment, residents who attended forestry meetings in Klukwan, Haines and online last week ended up discussing what it could look like to open the entirety of the forest – outside of the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve – to logging. 

The current state forest management plan was adopted in 2002 and opened for amendment specifically to include a new carbon offset program passed by the legislature in 2023. Last year, local scoping meetings on the project were not well-attended but focused primarily on that carbon offset language. 

Forester Greg Palmieri, however, said the amendment process opened the entire management plan up to comment. “The fact is, whenever you open the policy for amendment, all the issues are open for discussion.”

But after months of work on a plan revision, Palmieri said he was directed by the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources to pivot to something he described as “more encompassing.” 

He would not share any documentation of specific directions he received. 

“I don’t have any documentation. You’d have to go higher than me. I suppose you could call the commissioner’s office,” Palmieri said. 

Reached Wednesday afternoon, commissioner John Boyle’s office sent a written statement saying that DNR is “interested in enabling economic activity where possible. The proposed Haines State Forest Management Plan revision allows, but does not require or authorize, carbon offset projects and timber harvests.”

Palmieri said he and forest planner Geneva Preston have put out an initial draft and it’s being reviewed inter-departmentally. 

After the new draft plan was written, the Division of Forestry hosted three meetings in the Chilkat Valley last week, including one in Klukwan. 

In a later statement Chilkat Indian Village President Kimberley Strong said the government supports the initial reason for amending the Haines State Forest Management Plan – carbon sequestration projects as a path toward management of the forest that protects salmon habitat, safeguards areas of cultural significance and addresses the climate crisis. 

“We are very disappointed and strongly disagree with Division of Forestry’s intent to draft policy language to open the entire forest to timber harvesting because of the ramifications it will have to our way of life,” she wrote. “We are concerned about how this will affect wildlife management areas, particularly our anadromous streams which provide critical salmon habitat. The forest should serve the people, the fish, and the future—not short-term industry profits.”

During the meeting in Haines, planners got an earful from residents, many of whom opposed the idea of opening any new areas of the forest to logging. 

“I’m uncomfortable adjusting the timber base because we know what that could mean,” said Thom Ely. 

Forest planner Preston described the expansion of areas allowed for timber harvest as an update to the current plan that would align it with state regulations. 

“Some of the parcels that are classified as wildlife habitat or for public recreation prohibit timber harvest in the plan language,” she said. “The way that classification works more broadly in the State of Alaska — and the way that they are defined in our regulation – is that any classification is primarily managed for its named classification and is available for multiple uses as long as they’re not in conflict with its primary use.” 

Palmieri and Preston said the Division of Forestry is proposing a shift in management policy that allows all of the land within the Haines State Forest, with the exception of the preserve, to be managed for multiple uses.

Some met that idea with skepticism, asking how logging would be compatible with other types of land use that protects habitat or recreation. 

Derek Poinsette, executive director of the Takshanuk Watershed Council, said planners should ask themselves which of all of the multiple uses they were considering was the most valuable. 

“Salmon habitat is right up there. It’s rare, hard to maintain. Wildlife habitat, scenery. Commercial timber is also valuable but is there that much demand?” he said. 

Tempers flared during the evening, with at least one man in the audience shouting several times. 

Mark Sogge, a retired Fish and Game biologist, asked why the plan couldn’t be amended to just include carbon sequestration on parcels of Haines State Forest plan that were already managed for logging. “If you’re going to mitigate climate change, which is the reason for carbon offsets, then you’ve got to hold onto those big trees. It just makes sense. If you’re trying to mitigate climate change. That’s what carbon offsets are all about,” he said. “You want to utilize the whole forest differently. It doesn’t make sense to put the whole place back in the cut. I’m not liking this at all. It’s bogus.” 

Palmieri also became animated as he noted that they weren’t talking about any specific proposals to log certain areas as those would not be built into a management plan and would have to go through their own separate public process. 

“I understand that it appears to be extreme. But, we’re not talking about execution here,” he said. “This is simply the guidance that gives us the opportunity. There may be very good reasons to do something in an area that can provide commercial timber to an operator and may enhance wildlife.” 

Palmieri said the department was not intending to manipulate anyone and that as a 30-year state government employee he understands that people do not trust them. But he said in spite of that, they are inviting people to have the conversation about what multiple-use management could mean. 

“For once, I would love to have a conversation about what things could be, rather than what they couldn’t be,” he said. 

More public hearings are planned before the process is complete, particularly when the management plan draft is available for public review and a minimum of a 30-day public comment period is mandated. 

The legislation that allows for the adoption of a forest management plan for the Haines State Forest requires that the department consult with the Department of Fish and Game and “the governing bodies of each municipality in the general area.” Regulation cannot be adopted without prior review at public hearings in Haines and Klukwan. 

Staff said they expected to have a draft plan available for review sometime this winter. To comment on the plans, send an email to dnr.dof.haines@alaska.gov.

Or write the Division of Forestry and Fire Protection ATTN: Forest Planning, 500 W 7th Ave. Ste 1450, Anchorage, AK 99501-3566.

• This article originally appeared in the Chilkat Valley News.