THE FORESTS OF ALASKA 
Alaska's 573,000 square miles of land is covered by 
three general types of vegetation, which are determined, 
roughly speaking, by variations in climate and soil. 
These are the spruce-birch forests of the interior; the 
nonforested tundra and grassland of the Arctic and 
Bering Sea slopes; and the dense hemlock-spruce forests 
of the coast. 
COASTAL FORESTS 
Covering the Pacific side of the Alaska Range, a 
humid region of mild climate and heavy precipitation, 
dense forests of hemlock and spruce extend from the 
southeastern tip of the Territory north and west along 
the coast to the vicinity of Kodiak. These forests are 
approximately 70 per cent hemlock, 25 per cent spruce, 
and 5 per cent western red cedar, Alaska cedar, and 
other species. They are of immense economic impor- 
tance, for they cover a region the best use of which is 
for timber production, the land having little agricultural 
value. They are almost all within the Tongass and 
Chugach National Forests, which are under scientific 
forest management. This means that the forests are 
handled as a crop, the annual cut of timber never 
exceeding the annual growth, and permanent wood- 
using industries being thus provided for. Obviously, 
these coastal forests will contribute greatly to the 
permanent welfare and prosperity of the people just as 
soon as economic conditions permit the full develop- 
ment of wood-using industries. At the present time 
only a small fraction of the potential growth is utilized. 
INTERIOR FORESTS 
Light rainfall, usually 10 to 16 inches annually, and 
severe winters characterize the spruce-birch interior 
region, which abounds in river valleys and wet flats. 
The region is bounded on the south by the Alaska 
Range and extends north and west to the Arctic tundra 
and grassland. Stands are light and trees compara- 
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