The Forests of Alaska 



By Henry S. Graves 

 Chief Forester, U. S. Forest Service 



THE American people are only just coming to 

 realize that large portions of Alaska are habitable 

 and that, through the development of the valua- 

 ble resources, there will be an extensive permanent pop- 

 ulation, destined to make the territory an important part 

 of our nation. The average visitor today goes as far 

 north as Skagway. He sees only a small corner of 

 Alaska, though it is a part abounding in interest and rich 

 in opportunities for development. Perhaps most visitors 

 are interested chiefly in the unmatched scenery, the 

 rugged mountains of the mainland and of the larger 

 islands, the narrow, sinuous passages between the islands 

 and in the deep inlets, the snowfields, glaciers, and water- 

 falls, and i;he Indian villages with their emblematic and 



mortuary totem poles. The tourist is able to get a glimpse 

 of a few of the larger mines, and visits some of the 

 numerous canneries and fish-salting establishments. But 

 a real appreciation of the actual conditions and the 

 problems of development can be obtained only by taking 

 time to go about among the various islands of the Archi- 

 pelago, stopping ofT at different points to see the resources 

 themselves and the beginnings that are being made for 

 their development the logging operations, the mines, 

 the quarries, the settlers' homesteads, and the fishing 

 enterprises. 



Such a visit reveals the fact that one of the most 

 important of the resources of southeastern Alaska is the 

 timber. The high range of the mainland and the back- 



WESTERN RED CEDAR IN ALASKA 



The forests on the southern coast of Alaska represent an extension of the coast belt of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. There are 

 many of the same species, with trees of large size and heavy yield, and there are similar characteristics of forest life. In southeastern Alaska 

 the western red cedar grows in abundance,- mingling with the spruce, hemlock, and the Alaska yellow cedar. 



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