Tongass Timber Reform Act
Tongass Timber Reform Act - Title I: Forest Management Provisions - Amends the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to seek to provide a supply of timber from the Tongass National Forest in Alaska which meets: (1) the annual market demand for timber from such forest; and (2) the market demand from such forest for each planning cycle.
Declares that specified factors to be considered by the Secretary in the development of land management plans under the National Forest Management Act of 1976 shall apply to the Tongass National Forest, except economic factors in the identification of lands not suited for timber production.
Requires the Secretary, in order to preserve riparian habitats, to maintain buffer zones around all Class I and II streams in the Forest where commercial timber harvesting shall be prohibited. Exempts specified timber sales from this prohibition.
Amends the National Forest Management Act of 1976 to include National Forest System lands in Alaska within the Small Business Administration's set-aside program under which small business timber purchasers may elect to have the Forest Service build the necessary logging roads on awarded timber sales. Requires the Secretary to provide a supply of timber from the Forest which meets the demands of qualified small business purchasers.
Title II: Tongass National Forest Lands Protection - Amends the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to allocate certain lands within the Tongass National Forest to Land Use Designation II management (in a roadless state, retaining wildland character, but permitting wildlife and fish habitat improvement and primitive recreational facility development).
Title III: Modification of Long-Term Timber Sale Contracts in Southeast Alaska - Directs the Secretary to make certain modifications to long-term timber sale contracts between the United States and the Alaska Pulp Corporation and the Ketchikan Pulp Company to assure that the public resources of the Forest are protected and competition within the southeast Alaska timber industry is promoted.
Title IV: Haida Land Exchange Act Amendment - Amends the Haida Land Exchange Act of 1986 to withdraw certain lands in Alaska from appropriation under the public laws, including the mining and mineral leasing laws, and from selection under the Alaska Statehood Act, as amended. Authorizes for a one-year period the Haida Corporation to select lands from among those lands withdrawn.
Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the need, if any, to standardize riparian management practices for Federal, State, and private lands within the Tongass National Forest.
Title V: Echo Cove Land Exchange - States that if Goldbelt, Incorporated (an Alaska Native Corporation) conveys to the United States the Echo Cove Lands within 90 days after enactment of this Act, the United States shall grant to Goldbelt the Hobart Bay lands. Provides that any such lands acquired by the Secretary shall become a part of the Tongass National Forest, Alaska.
Directs the Secretary to continue to engage in expedited negotiations with Sealaska Corporation for a voluntary exchange agreement through which the United States would acquire surface and subsurface estates held by the Corporation in the Tongass National Forest, in exchange for Federal subsurface estates in the Greens Creek area of Admiralty Island. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress, within 60 days of enactment of this Act, recommendations as to whether or not such an exchange should be made.
Directs the Secretary to engage in expedited negotiations during this period with Shee Atika, Inc., Atikon Inc., and Sealaska for independent voluntary exchange agreements through which the United States would acquire all of the surface estate or all of the surface and subsurface estates held by such private parties in the Lake Florence, Lake Kathleen, and Wards Creek drainages of Admiralty Islands. Makes acquisition of the Lake Florence drainage the first priority of such negotiations.
Became Public Law No: 101-626.