What is the Forest? Land, Culture, and the Politics of Resilience in the Tongass of Southeast Alaska

Abstract

This thesis centers around the question of “what is a forest?,” focusing on the only remaining unfragmented temperate rainforest in the world: Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. In this project, I outline how the forest is constituted and valued by different groups of people who live in and depend upon the Tongass, ranging from tribal leaders to elected officials to conservationists. At present, much of the political discourse in the management of the forest is preoccupied with economic growth and extractive industry, whether roadbuilding, timber, tourism, or commercial fishing. However, this project constitutes the Tongass as a crucial source of resilience, culture, and community for the people who live there. As the thesis progresses, I highlight the nuances of life in the Tongass through ethnographic methods including participant observation, in hopes of offering an alternate approach to forest management which centers the needs of local and Native peoples.