Land swap to lead to logging in Southeast

The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority board approved a land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service, with the aim of getting timber projects off the ground in Southeast.

Wyn Menefee, the executive director of the AMHTA Trust Land Office (TLO), said it’s the biggest land exchange in the trust’s history. Though the exact amount of land still has to be worked out, the AMHTA Board of Trustees approved the exchanged that will send more than 20,000 acres of USFS land to the trust for more than 18,000 acres of trust lands throughout Southeast.

Menefee said the trust is hoping to make money off its newly acquired lands with timber harvesting. According to the TLO website, the lands could yield between $40 and $60 million over the next 20 years. Lands going to the Forest Service will be protected, Menefee explained. The overall aim of the land exchange is to protect viewsheds while logging less-sensitive lands to earn money for the trust.

As part of the exchange, the trust is giving nearly 2,700 acres of land on Douglas Island — land that includes the Mount Bradley (Mount Jumbo) Trail — to the Forest Service. Menefee said the Forest Service is not allowed to do logging on the lands it’s receiving as part of the deal.

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