Could rising timber prices aid the Tongass transition to second-growth logging? Posted by Jacob Resneck, CoastAlaska | Apr 29, 2021 This is a 70-year old stand of young growth timber, photographed in 2013. The tightly-packed trees are growing among the stumps of their much larger predecessors. (USDA photo) Soaring lumber prices could be a boon for Southeast Alaska’s struggling timber industry. The pandemic has fueled the demand for both renovations and the new home construction market, and supply has not kept up. But industry experts are divided over how to best seize the opportunity in the region: By cutting what’s left of Tongass old growth, or by retooling to cut younger, second-growth trees.