Members of the Tongass Advisory Committee (TAC) ended a series of meetings last week in Ketchikan, finalizing its recommendations on an updated management strategy for the country’s largest national forest.

The TAC was formed 16 months ago to review the United States Forest Service’s draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for amending the current Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan. The management plan amendment is in response to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s directive in July 2013 to transition timber harvest in the Tongass National Forest away from a predominately...