KPC was a sulfite process dissolving pulp mill, designed to manufacture a product called "Tongacell," made from cellulose fiber from Spruce and Tsuga trees, which is used in the manufacture of various rayon products.
Feedstock for the mill was harvested from the Tongass National Forest under guaranteed 50-year supply contracts that enabled the private companies to commit the large development investments in an area with only one log supplier (the USFS).
This became controversial in the late 1980s, due to environmental concerns with the scale of old-growth forest harvesting and criticism of the multimillion-dollar subsidies.
The last bale of pulp paper to come off the mill is on display at the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center in Ketchikan.
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