Forest Service Approves Logging in Roadless Area of Alaska's Tongass

[Blackaxe]

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Federal officials are allowing a 665-acre timber harvest in a roadless area of Tongass National Forest, the first since an anti-logging rule was lifted early this year.

The harvest was announced Friday by the Forest Service along with the agency's plans to approve a proposed 1,800-acre harvest next month.

"Supporting our local communities is an important part of what we do and offering these timber sales is a way we can accomplish that goal," Tongass National Forest Supervisor Forrest Cole said in a statement. "My hope is these timber harvests will help our local family-run mills keep operating and create jobs."

Environmentalists decried the announcement, while a timber industry group applauded it.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBG93M6HWD.html

[quaoar]

1. Four more years of Bush

And it will be the Tongass Golf Course.