I have lived in Haines since 1963, when logging was in its prime here. Timber is a renewable asset; trees grow back!
In 1990, I harvested trees on my property above two miles on Haines Highway, providing an area where the logs could be staged for grading and held until a Japanese log ship came to transport the logs to Japan, providing income to the borough for dock fees and longshoremen.
The dock also provided a place where the output of the two sawmills could store and load lumber for transport and income to the borough.
Where the state has had log sales, the new growth provided a place for berries to grow and locals go to harvest them until forest conditions crowd them out. The cycle of the forest!
I do not see ugly hillsides from logging. Yes, it takes a few years of berry harvest, but it is still green even though, for a while, some stumps are seen. The new growth still captures as much carbon as the bigger trees.
Why be afraid of a new dock? At the present time, it appears that AML has a monopoly on our dock. Why would it hurt to have space available for another organization with approval of the borough to contract for dock use if compatible with the borough code? At one meeting, AML stated that their area of the dock is relatively insufficient.
Let’s get the dock done before it’s too late.
Stan Jones