DEFEND. YAKUTAT.
Clear cut logging threatens sacred and significant cultural sites across Yakutat AND THE FORELANDS.
Our mission is to bring visibility and transparency to industry on Yaakwdaat Aaní
Ugly, brutal, and unforgiving.
Clear-cut logging destroys our way of life - desecrating sacred sites, erasing history, and threatening the land we depend on. Across Yakutat and the Forelands, these reckless and unsustainable practices have inflicted deep, lasting harm. We are committed to ending the silence and holding those responsible to account.
in a headlock.
Between 2019 and 2023, Tlingit tribal members, shareholders, community members, and the public repeatedly sought answers from Yak-Tat Kwaan and its logging subsidiary, Yak Timber- with little transparency or response.
Despite unanswered questions and growing concern, Yak Timber continued logging. They attempted to log Khantaak Island - an ecologically and culturally critical barrier against tsunamis - and successfully clear-cut across areas including the road to the Situk River, Ophir Creek, Humpback Creek, Canoe Pass, and around Sawmill Cove.
During this time, Yak-Tat Kwaan leadership operated beyond their board election dates, canceled shareholder meetings and elections, and dismissed concerns by citing 'misinformation.' In the aftermath, they left the new board with over $10 million in debt and logging equipment scattered across the landscape—much of it damaged or inoperable.
After the board flip in September 2023, the newly elected Yak-Tat Kwaan board acted quickly to begin dismantling Yak Timber and transition toward more sustainable, transparent, and accountable business practices—offering a path forward for healing and change.
