A proposed 1,286-acre state timber sale in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, which some business interests see as a benefit to development, is drawing further criticism from area residents who argue it's not even legal.
Trapper Creek homesteader Richard Leo, one of several area residents who oppose the sale, said the forest land use plan under which the Petersville Road sale was devised was based on an outdated area plan and outdated forest guidelines. His written comment was among several received by the state Division of Forestry during an appeals period that ended Jan. 23,
Leo said the land use plan under which the timber sale was devised was based entirely on the Susitna area plan completed 21 years ago. By its own stated timeline of 20 years, that plan is now factually and legally outdated, Leo said. The Susitna area plan also called for five-year updates, not a single one of which was ever done, he said.
"There is no question that an up-to-date overall review of the uses of state lands needs to be made, considering the reality of conditions today, and considering that an entire generation has not had opportunity to make comment," Leo said. "The proposed timber harvest is an egregious misuse of public lands that holds far greater economic, recreational, environmental and generational benefit by remaining intact."
While the state put in motion the eventual sale Jan. 3, officials allowed for a 20-day appeals period, which attracted significant comment. State forest resources planner Alison Arians said if the department determines, on the basis of appeals, to issue a new written finding on the sale, another public comment period would begin anew.
Backers of the sale include the Resource Development Council, Alaska Forest Association, Alaska Moose Federation, Paul Easley of Easley Associates, Alaska Village Initiatives and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. NPI LLC, an Oklahoma-based firm that operates a wood chipping facility at Port MacKenzie, is expected to be the main bidder.
According to the state's land use plan, which is being appealed, timber from this sale "would be predominantly defective hardwoods that will only be suited for the production of wood chips and fuel wood." The plan also said "NPI has proven in the short term that it can pay for the timber at the prevailing local rates and utilize wood not marketable to smaller operators."
Officials of the Resource Development Council, a nonprofit group supporting the development of the state's resources, said in their initial testimony that the sale would benefit the timber industry and the Mat-Su economy. The RDC also said the sale would contribute to healthy forest regeneration and enhancement of wildlife habitat.
Charles Parker of Alaska Village Initiatives said in his initial testimony that the sale would provide important economic activity in the region and support local business development in the Mat-Su borough.
Trapper Creek resident Kenneth Marsh, who owns a museum and farm on Petersville Road, felt that, to the contrary, the timber sale would be damaging to the local economy.
Marsh, one of several area residents who filed an appeal, said there was nothing to gain on the local level from such a sale. Marsh said area residents are working on a local comprehensive plan to build tourism as the local economic base. Large-scale logging will not play into this plan, he said.
Marsh said a new tour flying service being started this year at Trapper Creek would be flying directly over the cleared ground, and the scars to the land would remain for years. He also expressed concern over large wood chip trucks on Petersville Road, also a route for buses, campers and walk-in tourists. "This will in no way improve my business or anyone else's in this community," he said.
Talkeetna resident Dave Johnson argued in his appeal that chipping was "not the highest and best value for our best birch and spruce. It is sacrilege, like crushing big diamonds for industrial grit," he said. "It shows lack of respect for the forest, an absence of reverence for wood. It shows lazy, apathetic forest management."
Talkeetna resident John Strasenburgh called the proposed sale price, which he said translated into $4 a cord, "a rock-bottom give-away." Strasenburgh said that technically, according to state statutes, the forestry division may consider chipped value added, "but the effect on the ground is not value-added to the local community, and the logs, for all practical purposes, are being exported. Our northern valley communities are paying the price for the state's subsidy of a large corporation."
Anchorage attorney Geoffrey Parker also filed an extensive appeals brief, on behalf of the Trapper Creek Community Council, Alaska State Council of Trout Unlimited and six individuals.
"The community council is unanimously opposed the sale and represents the community which is apparently overwhelmingly opposed to the sale," Parker said in his brief.
Arthur Mannix, one of the individuals he is representing, is a professional wood products user and for more than 25 years has built more than three dozen homes from logs or lumber harvested from Upper Susitna Valley lands, Parker said. His business requires the availability of mature white spruce.
Although the state says that it will continue to offer timber sales for local, small-scale operators who have traditionally provided locally harvested saw and house logs to Mannix, the long-term future of his industry is seriously jeopardized by the continuing practice of offering these large timber sales such as this sale, Parker said.
Parker had initially urged withdrawal of the proposed sale on grounds that any economic gains would be insignificant compared to the permanent and likely impacts on recreation, fish and wildlife.
There is also an issue of cost effectiveness, he said. "This sale is likely to cost the state for more than it ever receives in revenue," he said.
Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.
