Page "Tongass National Forest" Paragraph 36

Timber harvest in Southeast Alaska consisted of individual handlogging operations up until the 1950s, focusing on lowlying areas and beach fringe areas.

In the 1950s, in part to aid in Japanese recovery from World War II, the Forest Service set up long-term contracts with two pulp mills: the Ketchikan Pulp Company ( KPC ) and the Alaska Pulp Company.

These contracts were scheduled to last 50 years, and originally intended to complement independent sawlog operations in the region.

However, the two companies conspired to drive log prices down, put smaller logging operations out of business, and were major and recalcitrant polluters in their local areas.

Ultimately, virtually all timber sales on the Tongass were purchased by one of these two companies.