Iyouktug timber sales

"The USDA Forest Service proposes to harvest up to 60 million board feet (MMBF) of timber in the Iyouktug project area on Chichagof Island, Hoonah Ranger District, Tongass National Forest. Timber volume would be offered through the Tongass timber sale program. The actions analyzed in this Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) are designed to implement direction contained in the 1997 Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan, as amended (Forest Plan) and the Tongass Timber Reform Act. The FEIS describes five alternatives, which provide different combinations of resource outputs and spatial locations of harvest units. The action alternatives would make between 17 and 59 MMBF of timber available for harvest within the project area. The significant issues addressed by the alternatives and the FEIS include: 1) deer habitat connectivity; 2) inventoried roadless areas; and 3) timber harvest economics. The preferred alternative at this point is Alternative 3, which was developed to minimize impacts to deer habitat connectivity while providing for an economic timber supply. However, any of the alternatives may be selected in the Record of Decision for the FEIS"--Vol. B, Abstract.