 June 08, 2005
Southeast Alaska - The Petersburg Ranger District has released the Environmental Assessment for a proposed small-scale timber harvest project. The Overlook project presents a No Action alternative and three action alternatives proposing harvest of approximately 3.5 to 5 million board feet (MMBF) of timber from the central portion of Mitkof Island, approximately 15 miles south of Petersburg. The project's identified Proposed Action Alternative would involve the harvest of 5 MMBF from approximately 257 acres. "This small timber project is part of our ongoing effort to implement the Forest Plan and help our family-run mills in the area keep operating and create local jobs," said Petersburg District Ranger Patty Grantham. The Forest Plan, which was updated in 1997, was designed to assure sustainability for all resources and values, while allowing development on a small portion of the Tongass to support dependent communities in Southeast Alaska. The Overlook project includes new classified road construction in the action alternatives ranging from 0.3 miles to 3.2 miles. All of the proposed roads would be closed after the timber harvest is complete. The Proposed Action Alternative includes construction of approximately one mile of new classified road and less than one-half of temporary road. About two miles of existing road would be reconstructed. Harvest methods include helicopter logging to protect existing recreational and scenic values in the area. A 30-day public comment period concerning this EA begins when the Notice of Availability is published in the Juneau Empire, the newspaper of record, which is scheduled for June 9. A subsistence hearing also will be announced during the 30-day comment period. Comments on all alternatives
may be mailed to Tiffany Benna at: P.O. Box 1328, Petersburg,
Alaska 99833. Comments may also be received via e-mail at comments-alaska-tongass-petersburg@fs.fed.us.
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