State officials have signed plans with the U.S. Forest Service that they hope will strengthen the timber industry.
Gov. Frank Murkowski said his aim is to grow "an integrated industry" with 360 million board feet of timber eventually available every year.
State and federal officials on Saturday signed two memorandums of understanding.
One calls for state and federal officials to provide a framework for the development of economically viable Tongass National Forest timber.
The other calls for the state and Forest Service to work together in amending the 1997 Tongass Land Management Plan as ordered by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in August.
In addition, Murkowski has established a "timber cabinet," made up of the commissioners of Natural Resources, Fish and Game, Labor and Community Affairs and Economic Development, which will work to stabilize and expand the timber industry.
Murkowski said he will pursue three 10-year timber sales, in the name of the state, to give a mills a reliable supply of timber.
Murkowski Chief of Staff Jim Clark said Saturday after signing the memorandums that the governor had directed his staff to find a plan under which the state and Forest Service could help each other plan for a stable timber industry. Key to such a plan, Clark said, would be a steady and certain timber supply.
Murkowski said it was significant that U.S. Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey flew to Juneau from Washington, D.C., on a weekend to talk about how the Forest Service could address the significant decline in the industry.
Murkowski said state pursuit of 10-year timber sales is unusual but not unheard of.
"The point would be that the state would use its commitment to the timber industry to not only show good faith, but to reinforce our commitment that we can, indeed, have a healthy timber industry."
The state will encourage investment in using utility timber, wood that formerly would have gone to pulp mills but now is unused because mills have shut down. Such timber could be used for veneer or medium density fiberboard, he said.
"We're looking at being innovative as a state, cooperating with industry, working with the Forest Service," he said.
The agreement, according to Tongass National Forest Supervisor Forrest Cole, will involve state officials in early stages of timber sales rather than at the end.
"The outcome we're looking for is to provide stable year-round jobs in some of the 32 communities that are depending on forest resources," Cole said.
Litigation over proposed sales has been an impediment to their success and is not likely to disappear because of the agreements, Cole said.
"If I said I had a solution for the litigation, it would be a lie," Cole said.
Using the expertise of state Fish and Game and Environmental Conservation staff will "make sure all the environmental i's are dotted and t's are crossed, so even if there is litigation, we can achieve a more positive result," Clark said.
The state has, under the Murkowski administration, intervened in every action against the Forest Service regarding timber sales, so its position will not change, Clark said.
However, "We're more immediately involved if we're the owner of the timber sale," Clark said. "We're playing a different role than if we're intervening."Fairbanks News-Miner
