Timber

How the forest resource is utilized depends on the value or values placed on it. Many natural resource problems occur because we take too narrow a view of all the values that these resources hold. Trees both depend upon and protect the very thing that which greatly determines the productivity of the land-soil. For the Ahtna people there are historic cultural values of the forest. Priorities must be set so the forests can be used in a harmonious way with Ahtna values and economic opportunity.

There has been several timber inventories conducted on portions of Ahtna land. The US Forest Service conducted the first known inventory in 1968. This inventory used black and white aerial photos taken in 1968 to identify 440,000 acres of commercial forestland within two million acres of the Copper River Valley. The focus of this inventory was to identify timbered areas and produce a volume estimate.

Between 1989 and 1991, the Forestry Department of the Tanana Chiefs Conference conducted timber inventories on the Gakona, Gulkana, Tazlina and Mentasta village lands. These inventories used existing high altitude color infrared photos with a scale of 1 inch equaling 1 mile. There are detailed maps of these inventories at the Ahtna office.

The timber in the Ahtna region is typically small White Spruce with well-drained areas sometimes producing a percentage of saw logs or house logs. The best use of this timber is pulp. The most recent Ahtna inventories, 1995 through 1997, establish four basic timber types, used to describe the commercial value of this resource. Type S1 is used to describe low volume spruce stands, Type S2 describes medium volume spruce stands, Type S3 is for high volume spruce stands and Type HWD is used for hardwood stands.

Timber resource inquiries can be made to:

Joe Bovee, Land & Resource Specialist
Ahtna, Inc.
PO BOX 649
Glennallen, AK 99588
Office: (907) 822-8138
Fax: (907) 822-3495
Email: jbovee@ahtna-inc.com