Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) chaired an Interior Appropriations Subcommittee hearing to examine the Fiscal Year 2020 budget request for the U.S. Forest Service. At the hearing, Senator Murkowski questioned U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen on the spruce beetle epidemic occurring in Southcentral Alaska, wildfire suppression and response training initiatives, […]
Prince of Wales Sale Would Harm Habitat, Local Economy JUNEAU, Alaska— Eight conservation groups sued the Trump administration Tuesday to stop its authorization of the largest logging project in the national forest system in a generation, including thousands of acres of old-growth timber in the Tongass National Forest. Tuesday’s lawsuit says the U.S. Forest Service is […]
KLAWOCK—Governor Bill Walker signed into law Tuesday a bill designed to meet the growing demand for timber in southeast Alaska—after the lack of federal timber threatened the industry’s survival in the state. Senate Bill 32, which also expands the Department of Natural Resources’ authority to respond to communities hardest hit by fuel prices, passed the […]
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Tuesday criticized the Forest Service and Department of Agriculture for failing to actively manage federal forest lands in Alaska and across the West. Murkowski said the Forest Service’s reluctance to issue timber sales has harmed local communities that depend on jobs in the industry and revenue from timber harvests to pay […]