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, the forest holds many important and historic cultural values. 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 identified
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.
Between 1995 and 1996 a private forestry company performed a timber inventory primarily on the southern half of Ahtna property.
During 2010 and 2011 the Alaska Department of Natural Resources-Division of Forestry conducted two timber inventories based on weight measurement for the advancement of a biomass inventory in the Copper River Valley.
All the timber inventories identified approximately 700 million board feet of saw timber or over 3 million tons of accessible biomass.
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 Manager
Ahtna, Inc.
P.O. Box 649
Glennallen, AK 99588
Office: (907) 822-3476
Fax: (907) 822-3495
Email: jbovee@ahtna-inc.com
