Born Alaskan: Bjorn Dihle on the Tongass National Forest: Exploring Southeast Alaska’s Wildest Ecosystem | Episode 7

Join us for a conversation about a revolutionary new movement based deeply in land and water and humanity, all centering on America’s largest National Forest, the Tongass.   Central to the discussion is the region's $41 million subsistence economy. Wild salmon, Sitka black-tailed deer, and a deep-rooted tradition of local food-sharing serve as the economic and cultural lifeblood of Southeast Alaskan communities. Dihle highlights the vital difference between ancient old-growth forests and secondary growth, detailing how historic clear-cutting triggers "stem exclusion", a dense regrowth phase where tightly packed trees block sunlight, eliminate understory forage, and leave wildlife vulnerable during harsh winters without mature canopy shelter. The conversation turns to timber policy, taxpayer subsidies, and the dangerous absurdity of overturning the Roadless Rule. The Tongass National forest is Exhibit A for the damage that taxpayer-subsidized corporate logging for export can do to American lands. Rather than relying on corporate-scale, clear-cut logging that exports raw logs and employs very few local workers, Herring and Dihle examine the path toward restoration forestry, expanded local lumber mill capacity, and direct collaboration with Indigenous tribes and local communities. The commercial fishing industry, which is entirely dependent on the intact ecosystem of the Tongass, employs nine times as many local workers as does the current model of taxpayer subsidized timber harvest. Under the current model of timber harvest, most of the money flows away from local communities. We have to build a new way, one that draws on older knowledge about how to live in this intense and dynamic part of our country.  By balancing responsible timber harvest with wildlife and fisheries there is a clear path forward that creates employment, protects local food security and builds a strong economy while truly managing public lands for future generations. Booklist A Shape in the Dark: Living and Dying with Brown Bears by Bjorn Dihle Haunted Inside Passage: Ghosts, Monsters, and Mystery on Alaska's Coast by Bjorn Dihle "The Mad Trapper" article in Outdoor Life – A piece written by Bjorn Dihle about the infamous Mad Trapper of Rat River. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices