Video by Rafe Hanson

The Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the United States. Throughout the Tongass, there is one major theme: salmon.

From driving the jobs and industry in Southeast Alaska, to providing recreation opportunities for communities and travelers. The Tongass is America’s Salmon Forest.  The watersheds that make up the Tongass are wild and their habitats are extremely valuable for these reasons. In order for them to continue to provide for the people of Alaska and its visitors, we need to conserve them for generations to come.

In collaboration with Sitka-based artist, Rafe Hanson, this video offers a glimpse of the beauty and wildness that is America’s Salmon Forest.

After watching the video, sign your name to help conserve these areas. ​

Keeping track of efforts to save the “Roadless Rule” in Alaska has been complicated.  

But if you value public lands and wild salmon - and the jobs, cultures and recreation they sustain - you’ll want to tune in. The Roadless Rule in Alaska’s National Forests could be overturned in 2020, putting places we as Alaskans hold most dear at risk. 

Watch our new video to see what’s at stake this year for the Tongass National Forest.  

The gist of it? 90% of communities within Southeast Alaska spoke up in favor of the Roadless Rule. They said they want safeguards for their backyard forest, the Tongass. 

Despite this, Alaska’s Governor Dunleavy and President Trump made deals behind closed doors that jeopardize those safeguards for Tongass fish, wildlife and recreation opportunities, and the communities that depend on them. 

The decision makers we elected in Alaska are working to increase industrial clear-cut logging of old growth trees in undeveloped, wild areas of the Tongass called ‘Roadless’ areas. These logging activities are harmful to fish and wildlife, come at great taxpayer expense, and threaten the economy and way of life in Southeast Alaska—not to mention some of the best fishing on the planet. 

Despite that the Roadless Rule is flexible - allowing communities within the forest to obtain exemptions for every single infrastructure, transportation, mining, and energy project that’s been proposed in roadless areas – the State of Alaska has bent over backwards to serve the old-growth logging industry in its quest to overturn the popular conservation measures. 

Check out the new video below and share it with your friends and neighbors and then add your name to the letter on this page. 

Roadless areas in the Tongass are what make the Alaskan “backyard” a unique treasure that is worth protecting.  

We can all agree that the Tongass National Forest is America's Salmon Forest. 

Today, our friends at Sitka Conservation Society released "The Salmon Forest," a beautiful video celebrating one of the few places in the world where wild salmon and trout still thrive.

When you're done watching the video, sign your name to help conserve our Salmon Forest.

​According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG), 322 of Southeast Alaska's 5,000+ anadromous waterways (waters that support ocean-going fish like salmon and steelhead) are officially recognized as supporting annul escapements (or runs) of steelhead. The "officially recognized" part is key, as this means they are included in the ADFG Anadromous Waters Catalog (AWC). We believe there are many more than 322 that are not documented at this time.  
 
Being included in the catalogue is important because anyone looking to develop a project in documented anadromous waterways must adhere to conservation measures that help ensure the fish resources aren't harmed in the process.  
 
Over the past few years, Trout Unlimited has worked to increase the number of officially recognized anadromous streams by using citizen science - going to select Tongass 77 watersheds and surveying the area for steelhead. By the end of the year, Trout Unlimited hopes to have four new species additions to the AWC, and nearly 10 miles of undocumented habitat added.  

​A story was recently printed about our efforts in Fish Alaska magazine. Learn more about why it’s important for waters to be catalogued and how you can help.  ​

Despite what is going on in the world, we can see sun poking through and beginning to melt the snow, we can hear the spring birds chirping, and that can only mean one thing: fishing season is not too far off.

This weekend, we would have been at the Great Alaska Sportsman’s Show in Anchorage, with updates on our work to conserve fish and wildlife habitat across Alaska. However, as you likely guessed, the Sportsman’s show was postponed, along with many of our other favorite get-togethers. 

Instead, the Trout Unlimited Alaska team decided to bring the booth straight to you in your homes. Check out this video of Eric, Kayla and Meghan giving campaign updates as if we were talking to you at the Sullivan Arena!