GNA Spotlight, Alaska, October 2024
A Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) agreement between the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection and the Tongass National Forest is intended to help conduct timber sales on remote Alaskan islands. This agreement will assist the state in its goal of providing a timber bridge between the Tongass National Forest's old-growth and the young-growth that is nearing maturity.
The GNA agreement will complete work in two locations: Kosciusko Island (KOS) and Vallenar (VAL). Restoration services will include maintaining and closing roads and associated culverts. The funding source is primarily federal appropriations with some GNA revenue used to complete the projects.
The KOS GNA timber sale put 32MMBF of young growth spruce and hemlock on the market when it was sorely needed by industry, providing for local jobs and rural community economic stimulus. The VAL GNA timber sale combined old and young-growth state timber to amortize young-growth federal timber into a positive value timber sale. As the timber industry shifts from old growth to young growth there is a short supply of timber, and the timber provided by these sales supports the nearby mills and markets searching for sources of wood.
To learn more, contact Trevor Dobell and Jeremy Douse.