TRCP On Forest Service’s Assessment Of Tongass NF: An “Emphasis On Assuring Healthy Fish And Wildlife Habitat” 

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In many ways, 2025 was a year defined by gridlock and uncertainty in Washington D.C. Partisan divides slowed much of Congress, budgets were tight, and long-term solutions often felt just out of reach. Yet even in this environment, one…

— The TRCP (@TheTRCP) December 12, 2025

A U.S. Forest Service report released this week seems like a promising trend for the Tongass National Forest, which the current presidential administration hopes to repeal the Roadless Rule and cash in on the massive amounts of timber and other resources within the Tongass lands. From the report’s summary:

The Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the United States at 16.7 million acres and includes 80% of the Southeast Alaska panhandle. The Tongass is a temperate rainforest archipelago with 11,000 miles of meandering shoreline, rugged mainland coastal mountains, icefields, and more than 1,000 offshore islands. It surrounds 32 rural communities, served primarily by the Alaska Marine Highway System or air transport. Due to its geography, high energy costs, and limited transportation system, Southeast Alaska experiences high operating costs and logistical challenges for many activities. The Tongass provides the economic, cultural, and ecological backdrop of Southeast Alaska with a diversity of benefits including a rich forested landscape, economic opportunity across multiple industries, and subsistence resources.

Unlike other parts of Alaska which are supported by the energy economy, oil and gas are not present on the Tongass, but the combined economic drivers of timber, mining, commercial fishing, tourism and recreation have local, regional and national relevance. Balanced management of Tongass natural resources contributes to Southeast Alaska’s rural prosperity, vibrant cultural context, and rich natural environment.

The National Forest Management Act (NFMA) requires the USDA Forest Service to maintain a land management plan for each national forest that supports multiple uses in a manner that ensures sustainable and productive ecosystems. The Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan was approved in 1997 and amended in 2008 and 2016. During 2024, the agency initiated the first phase of plan revision, assessing existing conditions. This Assessment Report and the corresponding Assessment sections, developed with public comment, provide a current view of existing conditions and inform plan development, to be initiated during late 2025. The Forest Service has also presented in this Assessment Report considerations for the revised plan.

Here’s the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership with some reaction:

The Tongass Assessment Report Balances the Needs of Hunters, Anglers, and Other Users

TRCP commends the Forest Service for its emphasis on assuring healthy fish and wildlife habitat and ensuring continued access and recreation opportunities for local and visiting hunters and anglers

The Forest Service recently released the Tongass National Forest Plan Assessment Report, which highlights the agency’s focus on strong watershed conservation for salmon, deer habitat restoration through science-based forestry, reliable access for traditional and recreational use, and continued collaboration with Tribes, local communities, and conservation partners. TRCP commends the Forest Service for its emphasis on assuring healthy fish and wildlife habitat and ensuring continued access and recreation opportunities for local and visiting hunters and anglers.

“The overarching vision for the Tongass, as shown by the public feedback results, is that it remains a healthy ecosystem,” the Forest Service writes. “When viewed as an entire 17-million-acre region, the Tongass National Forest has retained natural ecosystem processes to a degree far greater than most National Forests in the Lower 48 states. There have not been wholesale changes in natural processes in Southeast Alaska, and it is one of the last places where natural salmon runs thrive.”

The report is one of the first steps in revising the Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan (also called the Forest Management Plan). The plan highlights priorities to guide the next chapter in managing America’s largest and wildest national forest.

Big, Wet, and Wild

The Tongass National Forest, encompassing most of Southeast Alaska, is what locals call a working forest. Roughly 72,000 people live in 32 communities within the Forest’s boundaries. Salmon are the backbone of the region’s ecosystem. All five species of Pacific salmon spawn in the Tongass’s 3,000 plus streams, and these fish provide the foundation for many of the region’s economic opportunities, supporting commercial fishing, tourism, and the hunting and fishing lifestyle. Around 2.3 million visitors come to the Tongass each year to experience the scenery and outdoor opportunities, which are all tied to a well-functioning ecosystem.

Locals live alongside some of the wildest and most intact lands in America. The forest supports a robust population of Sitka blacktail deer, mountain goats, and brown and black bears. Southeast Alaska’s remaining old growth forests are key to the health of salmon streams and winter habitat for deer and goats that support hunting and fishing.

In this assessment, the Forest Service is focused on adaptive management to meet the challenges of a variety of environmental changes, like expected increases in temperature, rainfall, flooding, and landslides that will affect fish habitat, deer populations, and access routes.

Exciting Changes

The Tongass has reached a pivotal moment of its management where millions of acres of young growth forest are now ready for commercial harvest that could also restore wildlife habitat. The Forest Service’s report makes it clear that Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations have requested this approach to forest management. Other public input has also supported young growth timber harvests that improve browse habitat and support local sawmills. While salmon stream restoration work has been conducted for the last few decades with positive results, the focus on forest restoration to benefit deer and other wildlife is more recent. Restoration is building momentum, creating jobs, and is something locals and visiting outdoorsmen and women are excited to see enacted.

Maintain Existing Roads

The Tongass has thousands of miles of existing roads. The budget for road maintenance is underfunded, and many roaded areas lack maintained access. The report highlights the importance of maintaining and repairing roads, trails, docks, and campsites for access to hunting and fishing grounds. The monitoring of road culverts is also important to prevent fish blockages, and surveying aquatic species and habitat restoration is important to sustain the ecosystems that hunters and anglers rely on.

The report notes that road construction, as well as mining and tourism growth, all carry risks for aquatic habitat if not managed carefully. The revised plan could strengthen standards and guidelines to conserve fish-bearing streams and surface resources.

A Path to a Positive Future Depends on All of Us

It’s no easy task to balance different users’ interests, but the Forest Service’s report shows that the agency is invested in a strong, working future for Southeast Alaska. It’ll be an exciting future for America’s largest national forest if the report’s priorities are adopted into the revised Tongass Forest Management Plan. To ensure this result, it is even more important that the hunting and fishing community stay engaged. There will be more public comment periods as revisions continue.