The forest is our pantry: Alaska national forests support abundant wild foods

Rural communities bordering the Tongass National Forest harvest more than 4.5 million pounds of wild food per year, including 100 different species that our public lands help support. Just how much food is this? An average quarter-pound cheeseburger might weigh around 6 oz, depending on your toppings of choice. Assuming a 6-oz weight, the wild food harvests in this region are equivalent to more than 12 million cheeseburgers a year. To replace the same amount of wild foods with grocery store purchases, it would cost these communities about $41 million.