In the old-growth temperate rainforests of southeast Alaska, concerns over clearcutting effects on habitat, visual quality, slope stability, and biodiversity have created a demand for the use of other silvicultural systems. The forest vegetation and animal taxa of southeast Alaska appear to be well adapted to frequent, widespread, small-scale disturbance, suggesting that variable-retention harvesting and maintenance of important structural features could sustain desired old-growth conditions in wood-producing forests. This hypothesis is tested in the alternatives to clearcutting (ATC) study, which uses experimental and retrospective approaches to evaluate several silvicultural systems for managing old-growth western hemlock-Sitka spruce forests. The operational-scale, long-term experimental study integrates research on stand dynamics, forest health, understory vegetation, wildlife habitat, stream ecology, slope stability, hydrology, economics, visual quality, and social acceptability.