Berners Bay near Sawmill Creek - photo courtesy of Christy Bullard
Welcome to the Tongass National Forest
The Tongass is the nation’s largest national forest and covers most of Southeast Alaska, surrounding the famous Inside Passage and offers unique chances to view eagles, bears, spawning salmon, and the breath-taking vistas of “wild” Alaska. Hike or take a sled-dog ride on aglacier, stroll along boardwalk trails, fish in streams or the ocean, or relax at a remote cabin.If spying some truly wild wildlife is on your bucket list, visit the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center and Steep Creek Bear Viewing area in Juneau, Anan Wildlife Observatory in Wrangell, Fish Creek Bear Viewing Area in Hyder, or Pack Creek Brown Bear Viewing Area on Admiralty Island, or immerse yourself in native culture at the stunning Southeast Alaska Discovery Center, located just steps away from the cruise ship docks in downtown Ketchikan.
NOTICE:Limited access, continued service at Tongass NF offices.
Continuing our service to you while doing our part to address the COVID-19 pandemic is very important to us. Therefore, we are limiting our face-to-face meetings and limiting walk-in access to our offices. Signs have been posted at all Tongass National Forest offices with guidance for obtaining entrance to conduct business, which may include setting up an appointment in order to enhance social distancing and minimize the number of visitors in offices at one time. We will continue to serve you via email, phone calls, and appointments as needed. Please click here for a phone directory of Tongass National Forest offices. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we all work together to minimize the impacts and spread of the COVID-19.
The Forest Service is planning to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze a variety of resource management actions to implement over a 15-year period. The Central Tongass project area encompasses National Forest System (NFS) lands and lands of other ownership, as authorized by other land owners, within the Petersburg and Wrangell Ranger Districts (3.7 million acres) to facilitate integrated and economical projects across all lands. Other than for invasive treatments, Wilderness will not be considered for resource management actions. The project area includes, but is not limited to, Mitkof, Kupreanof, Kuiu, Wrangell, Zarembo and Etolin Islands and the Alaska mainland.
The purpose of the POW LLA Project is to improve forest ecosystem health on Craig and Thorne Bay Ranger Districts, help support community resiliency, and provide economic development through an integrated approach to meet multiple resource objectives. The proposed action will be developed through extensive public involvement to meet the Purpose and Needs for the project, with activities that will occur over the course of 10 to 15 years. Input from the tribes and the public will help determine the location and types of activities, and how extensively they will occur across the landscape. For FAQs and answers, please see ourPrince of Wales Landscape Level Analysis Project (POW LLA) FAQs page
Tongass National Forest engineers recently worked with southeast area contractors to install two new bridges, one in Hoonah and one on Prince of Wales Island
The goal of the project was to reconstruct extent and retreat history of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet in Southeast Alaska since the last Ice Age, which ended about 20,000 years ago.
Imagine a coastal rainforest, wet, mossy, teeming with life, and intact. Pull on your rubber boots, we are going on a hike to get to know the Tongass National Forest.
Tongass National Forest Sustainable Cabin Strategy
The vision of the TNF Sustainable Cabin Strategy is to build, relocate, and remove cabins in order to increase public access and use, while reducing costs and avoiding compiling maintenance costs on the cabin system.
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