Alaskan Coastal Temperate Keystone Forest

KEYSTONE FORESTS Maine Woods Keystone Forest Blue Ridge-Appalachia Keystone Forest Florida Panhandle Keystone Forest Upper Great Lakes Keystone Forest Northwest Rockies Keystone Forest Mogollon Keystone Forest Sierra Keystone Forest Klamath-Siskiyou Keystone Forest Pacific Northwest Volcanic Keystone Forest North Cascades Keystone Forest Alaskan Coastal Temperate Keystone Forest

Important wildlife includes five species of salmon, brown and black bears, wolves, mountain goats, moose, deer and bald eagles. The area is also home to the imperiled Alexander Archipelago wolf and Queen Charlotte goshawk. There are several endemic animal populations as a result of the island geography. Many scientists believe the viability of several species in the southern part of the keystone forest is not assured beyond 100 years under current forest management practices.

Biological hotspots are estuaries and their surrounding forest, salmon streams and coarse-canopy forest (old growth stands with large trees that have well-developed crowns and break snowfall well). Coarse-canopy forest was always rare here and now is being heavily targeted by a half-century of industrial scale logging (an estimated two-thirds has been lost). Much of the land area is non-forest (89 percent of the Chugach National Forest and 54 percent of the Tongass National Forest), and much of the forested area is scrub forest. Accordingly, old-growth habitat is naturally highly fragmented, and in many places logging has dramatically increased fragmentation.

Native cultures have remained strong in this keystone forest. Sport and subsistence hunting, fishing and gathering are highly important activities in the regional culture (both native and non-native). Commercial fishing for salmon, ground fish and crab is a mainstay of the region. Tourism is also important, ranging from independent travelers who come to hike or kayak to cruise ships.

Threats
The primary threat in the southern portion of the forest is logging and associated road-building. Logging in the region is marginally economic, creating pressure to target valuable, accessible low elevation coarse-canopy forest stands, often in roadless areas. Active plans by the state of Alaska to build a region-wide electrical intertie and to replace the existing ferry system with many short ferry hops connected by highways also present significant threats to the forest.

At present, there is no significant timber industry in the northern region. Proposed road access to the Bering coal-field presents one threat. Much of the shoreline/forest interface was damaged by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, and wildlife populations are stressed.

Efforts to Increase Protected Areas
Pending legislation: the Alaska Rainforest Conservation Act (H.R. 979) introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (DCT) with more than 100 cosponsors would permanently protect the remaining wildlands of the Tongass and Chugach National Forests to provide for hunting, fishing, recreation, tourism and ecological integrity. Another area for protection includes the expansion of Kenai Fjords National Park to include portions of the Chugach National Forest on Prince William Sound.

Written by Greenpeace
www.greenpeaceusa.org

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