Scientists Urge Congress to Enact Stronger Protections for Alaska Wild Salmon: Tongass 77 Would Permanently Protect 1.9 Million Acres in Tongass National Forest for Salmon and Trout. More than 230 scientists called on Congress today to enact stronger protections for wild salmon in Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. They urged lawmakers to support a legislative proposal called the Tongass 77, which would permanently conserve the most productive and currently unprotected watersheds for salmon and trout across nearly two million acres of the Tongass National Forest.
The 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest produces about 70 percent of all wild salmon harvested from national forests in the United States and roughly 28 percent of Alaska’s overall salmon catch, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Protecting the Tongass 77 is vital to sustaining this world-class fishery.
“The Tongass 77 watersheds are the backbone of a globally significant rainforest-fishery that rural economies depend on for their livelihoods,” said Jack Williams, Ph.D., Trout Unlimited’s senior scientist.
Scientific research conducted by Audubon Alaska and The Nature Conservancy and reviewed by local fisheries experts identified the Tongass 77 watersheds as the highest-quality habitat for salmon, trout and other wildlife that lacks permanent protection in the Tongass. Timber and mining, road building, more than 40 proposed and existing energy projects and several initiatives to privatize large swaths of the Tongass are currently in the works for these lands. Efforts to privatize several million acres of the forest come from Gov. Sean Parnell’s Alaska Timber Jobs Task Force, Sealaska Corp., and other Southeast Native groups. These initiatives and development activities have the potential to significantly impact the spawning and rearing habitat of Tongass salmon and trout as well as other species dependent on old-growth forest.
If enacted, Tongass 77 legislation would permanently protect approximately 1.9 million acres of public lands from ridge top to shoreline in a habitat conservation designation unique to the Tongass National Forest: Land Use Designation II (LUD II). There are currently twelve LUD II areas on the Tongass. Commercial timber harvest is not permitted in LUD II areas, but they are open for traditional gathering, fishing, hunting, recreational use and some hydropower generation. LUD II areas are managed for the long-term sustainable production of fish and wildlife.
“About 50 million wild salmon are harvested from the Tongass every year, helping to sustain a multi-billion-dollar industry. Salmon are a keystone species in Southeast Alaska and help drive the productivity and diversity of this rich coastal rainforest ecosystem,” said John Schoen, Ph.D., Audubon Alaska’s science advisor emeritus. Schoen has authored many scientific and popular articles about Alaska wildlife and is co-editor of the new book, Ecology and Conservation of North Pacific Temperate Rainforests.
In their letter to Congress, the scientists noted that populations of many species that are rare or have declined significantly in their southern ranges–including all Pacific salmon and steelhead trout species, brown (grizzly) bears, wolves, marten, bald eagles, marbled murrelets, and northern goshawks–are still abundant and secure in Southeast Alaska but continue to face substantial threats from climate change and ongoing habitat loss and fragmentation from development.
“If Congress enacts Tongass 77 legislation, approximately 58% of all Tongass salmon and trout spawning and rearing habitat would be permanently protected at the watershed scale. This would greatly benefit the commercial fishing fleet as well as anglers, subsistence users, recreationists and tour operators,” said Heather Hardcastle, a Juneau gillnet fisherman and biologist who works for Trout Unlimited, Alaska Program. Trout Unlimited supports the Tongass 77 proposal.
Learn more about the Tongass 77 and read the scientists’ letter to Congress at americansalmonforest.org/news-releases/.
—
Trout Unlimited is the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization, boasting 150,000 members from coast to coast. For more information about TU, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, or visit us at www.tu.org.