State forester outlines plan to add roughly 600,000 acres to Tanana Valley State Forest

Jeremy Dowse, director of the Division of Forestry and Fire Protection and State Forester, presented an introductory overview of House Bill 218 on April 21, proposing to add approximately 600,000 acres to the Tanana Valley State Forest.

Dowse described the Tanana Valley State Forest as one of three legislatively designated state forests, currently about 1.8 million acres and established in 1983, managed primarily for timber but also for wildlife habitat and public recreation. He told the committee the proposed additions were identified through area planning and remote sensing and were generally recommended for forestry management in prior public planning processes; active management and timber sales already occur in some of the proposed areas.

Dowse said the expansion would provide long‑term stewardship for forest health, wildlife habitat and public access and create planning certainty for timber industry participants in the interior. The committee did not take questions on the sectional today and will schedule a future hearing to review sectional details and take committee questions.