Message from Stewardship Program

Alaska encompasses a diverse set of geo-climatic and vegetative conditions. The state's 361 million acres can be divided into six major regions. Each region is almost state-like in size and diversity when compared to other states. There are 129 million acres of forestland in Alaska. This is 35 percent of the state's total area. There are 14 million acres of coastal, or maritime, forest and 115 million acres of interior, or boreal, forest. More than two-thirds of Alaska's communities and more than three-quarters of the state's population live in or adjacent to these forests. Ninety percent of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) village and regional corporations own forestland.

Of the 29.8 million total acres of private non-industrial forest lands (NIPF), approximately 6.2 million acres, or 20.7 percent, meet the federal definition of timberlands. The remaining 23.6 million acres are in the woodland class and grow at low rates due to poor soil conditions and/or severe climatic conditions. These forestlands are important for subsistence products and other forest resource values because of their role in the lives of village residents. Because most NIPF owners have acquired their land in the last 20 years, a fundamental obstacle to active stewardship is the lack of forest and land management knowledge and experience. A forest management perspective often needs explanation and development in the different cultural contexts of village life.

Management at any level of intensity on the 35.6 million total acres of land transferred to the ANCSA corporations is a challenge for the leadership of the newly formed organizations. Prior to 1971 many of these leaders lived a predominantly subsistence lifestyle. Legislative creation of the corporations placed them in an immediate land and financial management situation. The financial stability of the various ANCSA corporations has and will continue to affect land management decisions. Long-term commitments of land and timber to business activities are a continuing influence on forest stewardship of ANCSA forestlands.

In the first 10 years Forest Stewardship Program accomplishments in Alaska have resulted in plans for 15 ANCSA corporations covering 3 million forested acres and 384 plans for individual landowners covering 30,000 acres.

State Forestland Statistics:

• Total State Acreage = 365 million acres
• Total forested acres = 129 million acres
• Privately owned = 30 million acres*
• Federal = 77 million acres
• State= 22 million acres
• Other = 26.7 million

Stewardship in Alaska:

• *Number of stewardship plans = 224 landowners + 14 corporations
• Acres covered by stewardship plans = 2.5 million acres

*only non-industrial private land-owners

Links:

• Alaska Division of Forestry
• Alaska Division of Forestry, Stewardship and Landowner Assistance
• Extension Service
• Alaska State and Private Forestry
• The Nature Conservancy, Alaska Chapter
• Western Forestry Leadership Coalition
• EPA: Global Warming Impacts on Alaska
• Alaska Wilderness League
• Alaska Wilderness League, Links and Resources
• State of Alaska Online
• Chugach National Forest
• Tongass National Forest

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