|
|||
|
TIMBER Industry |
|||
| OVERVIEW | |||
| Forested lands are a renewable natural resource providing both direct and indirect economic value to the KPB. Timberlands may provide conditions necessary for salmon spawning, aiding both commercial and sports fishers, as well as provision of food and habitat for birds and wildlife, which in turn draws visitors from across the state, nation, and world. Mature timber may provide private employment and generate revenues for business and government entities. Residents and tourists alike enjoy healthy forest environments. | |||
| The Kenai Peninsula Borough encompasses 24,737 square miles of which 16,220.6 square miles (10,381,184 acres) are in land. Over ten percent of that land has been impacted by a spruce bark beetle epidemic that has devastated Borough timber in recent years, resulting in development of a Spruce Bark Beetle Task Force with two objectives: to develop an action plan, and to rehabilitate infested areas. The action plan focuses on prevention and mitigation of fire hazards and includes public education about fire hazards, fire training and equipment, harvest or removal of infested trees, and reforestation. | |||
|
The Executive Summary of the 2005 report of the Spruce Bark Beetle Mitigation Program states, "The spruce bark beetle outbreak on the Kenai Peninsula is considered to be the most intensive outbreak documented in North America. In 1998, State aerial surveys indicated that approximately 1.1 million acres of the Kenai Peninsula Borough had been impacted. Growth of the outbreak has slowed, but the wildfire risk caused by the outbreak will remain for decades. The most recently affected areas of the outbreak are along the lower Kenai River corridor, in the cities of Kenai and Nikiski, and in the eastern peninsula communities of Hope and Moose Pass." The task force report provided a broad strategy for dealing with spruce bark beetle impact issues. The report also identified over $13 million dollars in projects designed to mitigate the safety hazards caused by the infestation while lowering the region’s wildfire risks. Congressional support for these projects led to receipt of a $416,000 grant to the KPB in April, 1999; a $2 million appropriation in February 2000; and a $7.5 million appropriation in February 2001 for the purpose of implementing recommendations of the Task Force’s report. http://www.borough.kenai.ak.us/sprucebeetle/New/narrative.htm While the abundance of available timber should have stimulated the economy, wood pulp and wood chips became the main marketable products from the diminished quality of beetle-killed spruce. Wood pulp markets are found in British Columbia, Canada and Washington, USA. Japan is the main wood chip market. In recent years, demand and prices for wood chips dropped to the extent that a major wood processor left the industry, leaving approximately 250 employees without work. Another area entity purchased the facility and began operations only to lose much of its investment through fire damage. |
|||
|
|
|||
|