Tongass Timber

By the late 19th century, the forests of Southeast Alaska were being eyed for economic development and commercial interests had begun harvesting the high-quality Sitka spruce and other species in Alaska’s panhandle. The arrival of high-intensity logging in the 20th century and the establishment of wood pulp mills beginning in 1954, and lasting more than four decades, exposed the environmental and economic limitations of an integrated wood products industry in Alaska. Tongass Timber traces the history of the many attempts to develop the region’s forests, revealing the forces that influence the present choices about forest management in Southeast Alaska.

This publication was supported by the Kendall Foundation, Mike Blackwell, the SB Foundation, the Alaska Historical Society, the Alaska Humanities Forum, and the Lynn W. Day Endowment for Forest History Publications.