Tongass National Forest

At 17 million acres (69,000 km²), the Tongass National Forest in southeastern Alaska is the largest national forest in the United States. It is a northern temperate rain forest, remote enough to be the home of many species of flora and fauna considered endangered or rare elsewhere. Created in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt, it encompasses islands of the Alexander Archipelago, fjords, glaciers, and peaks of the Coastal Range mountains.

It is home to about 75,000 people who are dependent on the national forest for their livelihoods. Several Alaskan Native tribes live throughout SE Alaska — Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian. With 31 rural communities scattered on the islands of the Tongass National Forest, the largest town is Juneau at 38,000 and the capitol of Alaska.

Across the thousands of islands that make up the forest, are unique and protected features seldom found anywhere else in North America. Bald eagles, five species of salmon and brown and black bears abound throughout the forest. The health of the forest is evident in there are not threatened or endangered species to be found in the forest or the streams.

More information can be found at http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/.