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With your help, we can conserve and restore natural lands and waters for people and nature in Alaska. 

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Tongass Futures Roundtable

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People are working together to chart a sustainable future for nature and people in Southeast Alaska.

Where We Work

Facts on Southeast Alaska

At 16.8 million acres, the Tongass National Forest is roughly the size of West Virginia.

Nearly one-third of the rare old-growth, temperate rainforest on earth is in the Tongass National Forest.

All five species of wild  Pacific salmon spawn in the free-flowing streams and rivers of Southeast Alaska.

A network of more than 5,000 miles of logging roads carve through the region's forestlands.

The Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia and the rainforests of Southeast Alaska comprise one of the most productive forest habitats on Earth.

 se salmon fishing

The Tongass National Forest of Southeast Alaska is home to the largest intact temperate rainforest remaining on Earth. Brown bear, black bear, wolves and bald eagles thrive in this landscape, and it is one of the planet's greatest wild salmon nurseries. Its interface with the sea creates one of the largest, Prince of Wales Islandmost pristine and productive estuarine systems in the world. This diversity and natural abundance is a remarkable and wild place on Earth. Despite the wild and remote nature of the Tongass, people live and work in this forest. These lands continue to support traditions of Native people as they have for thousands of years.

Globally Unique

Southeast Alaska encompasses more than 5,000 islands and 18,000 miles of shoreline. More than 80 percent of the region is included in the Tongass National Forest -- the nation's largest -- but public ownership does not guarantee that conservation and restoration lead forest policy.

In the rainforests of the Tongass, we have an immense opportunity. We strive to protect and restore the ecological integrity and unique natural qualities of this coastal rainforest. At the same time, we're working to sustain local economies and maintain the quality of life valued by people who live and work in the region.

In Southeast Alaska, the Conservancy is committed to help:

  • Protect: Ecologically valuable watersheds on the Tongass await protection.
  • Restore: Streams and forests where past development has harmed wildlife habitat for wild salmon and deer can flourish again.
  • Transition: As industry shifts away from old-growth logging on the Tongass National Forest, second-growth timber harvest can form the basis of a sustainable natural-resources-based economy in Southeast Alaska.

Conservation Opportunity

In recent decades, the debate over how to best manage the resources of the magnificient Tongass National Forest has often been bitter and contentious. In Southeast Alaska, the Conservancy and a range of partners are working to forge a new sustainable future for nature and people.

Our work is based on science: we aim to protect key watersheds on the Tongass that we've identified in the Coastal Forests and Mountains Ecoregion Conservation Assessment, which we produced with Audubon Alaska. The Conservancy's work also involves local communities concerned with providing livelihoods in a region where commercial fishing and logging have fueled the local economy for generations.

A comprehensive approach to conservation on the Tongass National Forest is paying off. By investing in the best science available, we're successfully restoring and protecting crucial habitat. As we continue to listen to people who live and work in the forests of Southeast Alaska, we're forming solutions that support fish and wildlife and sustainable communities.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Photographer/Org (prickly pear cactus); Photo © Photographer/Org (cheetah); Photo © Photographer/Org; Photo © Photographer/Org (scientist).