Forest Service announces final decision on Tongass old-growth logging phaseout

A Tongass National Forest clear-cut is visible in this aerial photo taken in 2014. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)
The U.S. Forest Service on Friday announced a final decision on amending the Tongass Land Management Plan to transition toward second-growth harvest within 16 years.
The decision comes about five months after the draft decision was announced this summer.
There were some corrections, definitions and clarifications, but the main points remain the same. During the 1