Saddle LakesThe U.S. Forest Service announced last week that it has completed the Final Environmental Impact Statement and draft Record of Decision for the Saddle Lakes Timber Sale on Revilla Island.

The harvest area is about 14 miles northeast of Ketchikan in the Shelter Cove area. The proposal calls for construction of about 17 miles of new road, but not in inventoried roadless areas.

The proposal would allow a harvest of up to 47 million board feet of old-growth timber on about 2,300 acres. The entire project area covers about 42,000 acres, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The Final EIS and Record of Decision are available online, and objections can be submitted through mid-November.

The project also includes a Tongass Forest Plan amendment that would relocate a designated old-growth reserve within the project area. Objections to that amendment will be accepted through early December, but only from people who have commented on it previously.