The Tongass Forest Plan

For nearly fifty years, The Boat Company has guided guests through the fjords, forests, and salmon streams of Southeast Alaska.

These landscapes are not static. They are shaped by policy, stewardship, and public input.

At the center of those decisions is the Tongass Forest Plan — the document that determines how this 16.7-million-acre rainforest is managed for generations to come.

What Is the Tongass Forest Plan?

The Tongass Forest Plan — formally the Land and Resource Management Plan — is the guiding framework used by the U.S. Forest Service to manage the Tongass National Forest.

Required under the National Forest Management Act, the plan does not authorize individual projects. Instead, it establishes the long-term vision and rules that all future decisions must follow.

It defines how the forest is managed through:

  • Desired conditions for ecological, social, and economic outcomes

  • Objectives that move management toward those conditions

  • Standards and guidelines that set limits and direction

  • Land suitability designations for uses like timber, recreation, and conservation

  • Monitoring requirements to track outcomes over time

Every project in the Tongass — from timber sales to trail development — must be consistent with this plan.

What It Governs

The plan applies across the entire Tongass — approximately 16.7 million acres, covering most of Southeast Alaska.

It shapes decisions about:

  • Timber and logging — where harvesting can occur and under what conditions

  • Recreation and tourism — access, infrastructure, and scenic integrity

  • Wildlife habitat — protections for species and old-growth ecosystems

  • Watersheds and fisheries — safeguards for salmon streams and water quality

In effect, the Forest Plan determines how the land, water, and resources of Southeast Alaska are balanced over time.

How support actually works

The Boat Company supports the Tongass by funding specific, ongoing work tied directly to Southeast Alaska.

This includes:

  • Original legal research and formal comment letters defending national forest protections

  • Litigation and policy challenges opposing expanded logging and road construction

  • Dedicated environmental legal counsel focused exclusively on Tongass-related issues

  • Collaboration with national environmental law organizations to defend existing safeguards

  • Emerging advocacy efforts addressing habitat harms and bycatch of migratory salmon and halibut—and other marine life—by industrial trawlers operating in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea

For more than forty years, The Boat Company has helped sustain this work by underwriting conservation efforts that operate behind the scenes—often long before issues reach the public eye, and long after headlines fade.

Organizations we support

Protecting the Tongass requires collaboration. For decades, The Boat Company has supported organizations with the expertise, reach, and legal standing to defend Southeast Alaska’s forests, waters, and wildlife where it matters most.

Our conservation support includes long-term funding and collaboration with the following organizations:

Environmental law & policy advocacy

  • Earthjustice
    A leading nonprofit environmental law organization that has spent more than 50 years defending clean air, clean water, and public lands through litigation and policy advocacy.

  • Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
    With more than three million members, NRDC combines science, law, and advocacy to confront climate change and protect natural systems nationwide.

  • Crag Law Center
    Provides free and low-cost legal services for conservation efforts, including advancing climate protections and elevating Indigenous and underrepresented voices in environmental decision-making.

  • Center for Biological Diversity
    Focuses on protecting endangered species and the ecosystems they depend on, emphasizing the interconnected relationship between human and natural systems.

  • Sierra Club
    A grassroots, member-based organization working to protect public lands, wildlife habitat, and environmental protections while advancing clean energy solutions.

  • Greenpeace USA
    Uses peaceful protest, research, and public engagement to address global environmental challenges and advocate for systemic change.

Southeast Alaska–based conservation & community partners

  • Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC)
    A regional organization advocating for Southeast Alaska’s forests, fisheries, and communities, with a strong focus on sustaining the region’s fishing-based economy.

  • Sitka Sound Science Center
    Advances understanding of coastal Alaska’s marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems through research, education, and community engagement.

  • Alaska Raptor Center
    Provides medical treatment and rehabilitation for injured birds in Southeast Alaska, and supports education through its Raptors-in-Residence program.

  • Fortress of the Bear
    Alaska’s only bear-exclusive sanctuary, providing lifelong care for orphaned bears that cannot be returned to the wild while educating visitors about bear biology and conservation.

  • Sitka Trail Works
    Builds and maintains trails for local communities, with a focus on employment, access, and stewardship. The Boat Company crew regularly participates in early-season trail work.

Sustainable fisheries & coastal stewardship

  • Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association
    An alliance of small-boat commercial fishermen committed to sustainable fisheries, healthy oceans, and resilient coastal communities.

  • Alaska Trollers Association
    One of the oldest fishing associations in Alaska, dedicated to conservation, sound fisheries management, and the long-term viability of salmon trolling.

  • National Audubon Society
    Protects bird habitats through science, education, and policy advocacy, recognizing birds as indicators of broader ecosystem health.

Key initiatives

The Boat Company played a foundational role in efforts that helped establish roadless protections within national forests—protections that extend far beyond Southeast Alaska. Today, as those protections face renewed threats, we continue to support their defense through original legal research, formal submissions to federal agencies, and coordination with environmental law organizations working to uphold the rule.

Defending the Roadless Rule

Separate from roadless protections, the Tongass continues to face pressure from timber industry lawsuits seeking expanded logging. The Boat Company has joined legal efforts opposing these actions in order to protect remaining old-growth forests and preserve the ecological integrity of Southeast Alaska.

Opposing industrial logging

Unlike most travel companies, The Boat Company employs its own environmental defense attorney, Paul Olson, whose work focuses on protecting the Tongass through legal analysis, policy engagement, and regulatory review. His research and filings often form the backbone of broader legal efforts undertaken by organizations such as Earthjustice and others.

Environmental legal advocacy

As pressures on coastal waters increase, The Boat Company is expanding its conservation focus to include fisheries health and bycatch reduction—working alongside partners committed to protecting the marine systems that sustain both wildlife and local communities.

Protecting marine ecosystems

How travel becomes protection

A regenerative travel model rooted in Southeast Alaska

By remaining intentionally small, limiting guest numbers, and operating under special-use permits, The Boat Company uses travel as a tool to support long-term conservation.

Guests don’t simply pass through Southeast Alaska—they help sustain it.

This approach is often described as regenerative travel: travel that contributes positively to the long-term health of the places it depends on. In our case, that means immersive access paired with direct reinvestment in conservation, legal defense, and stewardship of the Tongass.

It isn’t a marketing concept. It’s the outcome of how we operate.

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Limited guests, special permits, human-scale navigation

Small Ship Access

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Immersive Experience

Explore the Tongass up-close—forests, water and wildlife

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Revenue Reinvestment

Funds reinvested into conservation and defense

Research, comment letters, collaboration, and litigation

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Legal & Policy Advocacy

Preserving forests, wildlife and waterways

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Long-term Protection

Learn more about why small ships matter ➝

Protection happens over time

The Tongass wasn’t preserved overnight, and its future won’t be secured all at once. Protection happens through long-term commitment, careful decisions, and people willing to support work that unfolds over decades.

Thank you for being part of that effort.

Learn more about our story and mission →