The Tongass National Forest: America’s Climate Hero

In the heart of Southeast Alaska, where mist clings to ancient spruce and fjords whisper secrets of the sea, the Tongass National Forest stands as a sentinel of our planet’s hope.

Spanning 16.7 million acres, this temperate rainforest—Earth’s largest remaining—cradles 650 million metric tons of carbon, a staggering 8% of all U.S. forest carbon reserves. Picture this: every year, its towering hemlock and Sitka spruce draw in 10–20 tons of CO2 per hectare, a silent symphony of photosynthesis that locks away the equivalent of 140 million cars’ emissions. The Tongass is no mere forest; it is America’s climate hero, a living bulwark against a warming world.

Beneath The Tongass’ canopy, roots weave through rich soil, storing carbon for centuries in a dance of life and time. Salmon pulse through 70,000 miles of streams, their journey from ocean to forest nourishing bears, eagles, and Tlingit and Haida communities whose stories are etched into this land.

Yet, this sanctuary faces peril. In January 2025, an executive order revived threats to the Roadless Rule, a hard-won shield that protects 9 million acres of the Tongass from logging’s grasp. Each year, unchecked logging could release 128,000 tons of CO2—akin to adding 27,000 cars to our roads—unraveling the forest’s climate legacy.

The Boat Company, born in 1979, carries this story forward with every eco-cruise through the Inside Passage. Our small ships, cradling just 20–24 passengers each, glide past glaciers and grizzly-speckled shores, offering not just a journey but a purpose.

Every cabin booked funds our nonprofit’s fight: $30 million and counting for habitat restoration, legal victories like the 2023 Roadless Rule reinstatement, and advocacy to hold back the saws. Our guests, kayaking through fjords or savoring wild-caught seafood under starlit skies, become stewards of this forest’s future, their footsteps echoing in the battle for its heart.

The stakes are personal. For Sitka’s fishers, whose nets rely on clean streams, logging’s muddy runoff and bycatch’s toll—35,000 Chinook lost in 2024 alone—threaten a way of life. For the grizzly, whose hunger tracks the salmon’s pulse, a disrupted forest is a silent starvation. For all of us, the Tongass’s fall would dim a beacon of climate hope.

Yet, there is light: your support, whether through a donation or a late-season cruise in July or August, fuels our resolve. Picture yourself aboard the M/V Mist Cove, tracing a fjord as a bald eagle soars, knowing your journey protects a forest that breathes for the world.

Join us. Wander the Tongass’s emerald embrace, learn its secrets, and lend your voice to its defense. Visit the buttons below to donate or book a cruise—our July 5–12 Trip #8, now 50% off, awaits.

Together, we’ll ensure this climate hero stands tall, its roots deep, its story unbroken.