(Photo courtesy Viking Lumber)
By Greg Knight, News of the North
A Southeast Alaska, family-owned lumber mill is suing the U.S. Forest Service over what they call a violation of the 2016 Tongass Management Plan — preventing them from supplying some of the top musical instrument makers in the world with high grade spruce.
According to owner Kirk Dahlstrom, Viking Lumber Company in Klawock, on Prince of Wales Island, is the last functional sawmill in the United States that can supply Sitka spruce for soundboards on Steinway & Sons grand pianos, and a large portion of the supply of wood for flattops on Martin and Gibson acoustic instruments.
The lawsuit was filed March 6 by the Pacific Legal Foundation. According to the foundation, in 2021, the agency ended the sale of old timber altogether — while still not selling enough young timber to keep the industry afloat.
In the complaint, Viking and other interested parties are seeking an injunction directing the Forest Service to comply with the Tongass Timber Reform Act of 1990 and the 2016 Tongass Management Plan, and to offer the sale of old-growth timber.
Sarah Dahlstrom, a spokesperson for the family business, told News of the North about the details behind the lawsuit.
“Our mill, along with Alcan and Alaska Forest Association, have filed a lawsuit against the USFS for violating their own 2016 Tongass Management Plan and not providing the supply needed to keep the industry alive,” Sarah said. “Over the past four years, the USFS has only offered 10-22% of our historical needs and we are in a crisis situation. [Steinway] is very concerned that without this supply their factory in Queens, New York would be in jeopardy. We are the sole supplier to Steinway.”
“For the past nine years, the Forest Service in Alaska has failed to sell any old growth timber,” Kirk said in an open letter to politicians and concerned individuals. “We have survived by getting supply from state agencies. The forest service has broken promises and laws, failing to follow their own Tongass Land Management Plan, published in the Federal Register in 2016. The Forest Service has become an agency, in and of itself, that will not listen.”
The President & CEO of Steinway & Sons, Ben Steiner, penned a letter to Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the Alaska Congressional delegation seeking assistance.
“Steinway is a proud partner of Viking Lumber,” Steiner said. “Viking is helping to support Steinway’s workforce of more than 200 union worker in its Astoria, New York factory, as well as nineteen Steinway & Sons stores and a network of over 60 dealer storefront locations with hundreds of employees across the United States.”
Sitka spruce is used in the soundboards of grand and baby pianos, and the flattops of acoustic guitars and basses. Ninety percent of the Sitka spruce manufactured in the United States comes from Viking Lumber.
