It was refreshing to read the Jan. 1 article, “This Southeast Alaska tree has stood for 500 years. Will it be sold for $17,500?” The carbon-rich forests of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest offer something for everyone, no matter where we may live.
For us who live here, the forest is at the heart of a way of life. To keep it alive, an unlikely group — including Alaska Native leaders, environmentalists and timber companies — came together 10 years ago to challenge and change conservation to understand that people and communities are inseparable from a healthy environment. This is different than a conservation organization parachuting in with predetermined ideas.
Today we’re achieving what only deep collaboration can: We’re building the Seacoast Trust, a new permanent fund for restoring salmon streams and second-growth forests, launching new entrepreneurial ventures that use nature sustainably, and investing in youth and Indigenous culture.
Our achievements at the Sustainable Southeast Partnership demonstrate how Indigenous people tied to this place are shaping the future of conservation in the Tongass, showing what’s possible when local people are empowered to keep our communities alive and well.
— Ralph Wolfe
Sustainable Southeast Partnership program director
Yakutat
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