Tongass National Forest

Draft EIS

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) Amendment was completed and mailed out (beginning January 4, 2007) to the 2,300 organizations and individuals on our mailing list. The Notice of Availability for the Draft EIS was announced in the Federal Register on January 12, 2007, initiating the 90-day formal comment period. The 90-day public review period was extended until April 30, 2007 and has now officially closed. We are currently considering the comments received, and identifying any necessary adjustments. Our intention is to make a final decision in late summer of 2007.

To access the cover letter, the Summary, the Draft EIS, the proposed Forest Plan, or the maps online, you can click on the links in the box to the right. For your convenience, you can open the entire Draft EIS at one time or, if this is too slow because of its size, you can open it up in parts (see links in box). In addition, you can open up a clean version of the Proposed Forest Plan or you can open up a version that shows the changes that have been made to the current Forest Plan with “track changes.” Errata associated with the Draft EIS, Proposed Forest Plan, and related documents are identified on the Errata page.

The Draft EIS analyzes seven alternatives in detail. These alternatives respond to the purpose and need for action by adjusting the land use designations on the Tongass to correspond with a wide range of timber market demand scenarios (tied to recent market demand studies ), a wide range of degrees of roadless area entry, and to address other needs that were mostly identified in the 5 Year Forest Plan Review. Maps of each of the alternatives, as well as other reference maps, are provided in the Map Library. The reference maps include maps showing Value Comparison Unit (VCU), Wildlife Analysis Area (WAA), Inventoried Roadless Area, and Ranger District boundaries, as well as the current Tongass-wide distribution of productive old-growth and young-growth forests.

Four public information posters were developed for use at the public meetings that were held during the Draft EIS comment period. The posters summarize key aspects of the Tongass Forest Plan and Draft EIS. Copies of these posters are provided in the Newsroom.

Please note that we have added links to maps of the updated OGR boundary proposal and are requesting your review and comments on these proposals. Please visit the Updated OGR Mapping page and review these.

The Forest Service has received a number of requests for additional information pertaining to the Draft EIS and the proposed Forest Plan. Information provided by the Forest Service in response to these requests is presented on the Information Requests page.