Forest Service wants to help towns thrive

There's new management in the Tongass and Chugach national forests in Alaska, and a priority of the U.S. Forest Service will be working with and helping bolster local communities, which have been hit hard by cuts in timber harvesting.

That was the message Steve Brink, acting regional forester

The new regional forester, Denny Bschor, will take over in January, after which Brink will become deputy regional forester, he said. The new team, appointed by the Bush administration, will work to restore trust with local communities and the timber industry after eight years of Clinton administration policies, Brink said.

"One of our priorities will be healthy communities. We have 33 communities in Southeast that are approaching collapse," he said, after a sharp drop in highpaying timber jobs over the last five to 10 years.

Timber harvesting in Southeast is heavily dependent on Forest Service policies in the Tongass, which covers 90 percent of forested lands in the region.