Youth Art Exhibit Celebrates Alaska's Tongass National Forest


  An exhibit featuring art made byKetchikan elementary students that celebrates Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest is on display at the Tongass Historical Museum through February 25. “A Forest of Words: Youth Voices Celebrate the Tongass National Forest” is a collection of two-dimensional art, including drawings and paintings, video pieces, a PowerPoint presentation and written work, such as poems. About 400 pieces were created by children living in the small Tongass communities of Naukati, Craig,ThorneBay,Petersburg, Wrangell and Yakutat. Museum director Michael Naab said the project was coordinated by Faith Duncan of the Forest Service in conjunction with the International Year of theForestin 2011, according to the Ketchikan Daily News. Read more about the exhibit. The Tongass is the country’s largest national forest. Its 17-million-acre expanse runs about 500 miles along the scenic Southeast Alaska coast, bordering with Canada. The Tongass is a coastal temperate rain forest that produces tens of millions of salmon annually. It’s crisscrossed with over 17,000 miles of salmon rivers and streams, making it America’s national “salmon forest.” TU works to conserve the highest-value salmon and trout watersheds in the Tongass through a campaign called the Tongass 77. Learn more.