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STREAM BUFFERS 



It is our understanding that participants in last November's 

 Tongass negotiations agreed to mandatory 100-foot no-cut buffers 

 along both sides of all anadromous and high value resident fish 

 streams. The State of Alaska does not object to this approach. 

 It would ensure a minimum level of protection for important fish 

 streams in the Tongass Forest, and would be easy for all to 

 understand and implement. This approach would have relatively 

 little impact on available timber volumes when compared to 

 site-specific best management practices of the Forest Service, 

 and would lay to rest an increasingly contentious issue in 

 southeast Alaska. It should be noted, however, that the 

 Southeast Conference did not address this issue. 



LAND DESIGNATIONS 



In 1980, Congress designated over 5.5 million acres of Tongass 

 wilderness in an attempt to balance two national interests: the 

 preservation of pristine areas of southeast Alaska and the 

 preservation of jobs in the Tongass timber industry. As we have 

 seen over the past 10 years, the solution did not take into 

 account the complex concerns and interests of many small 

 communities in Southeast. 



The Southeast Conference compromise proposal recommends a 

 legislative no-cut designation of 12 areas rather than wilderness 

 designation. This reflects the desire to protect forested areas 

 from commercial logging while retaining opportunities for other 

 activities which are important to local people. Areas which 

 would receive special permanent protection are: Kadashan River, 

 Chuck River and Windham Bay, Yakutat Forelands, Lisianski and 

 Upper Hoonah Sound, Nutkwa River, Karta River, Mt. Calder and Mt. 

 Holbrook, Young Lake Outside Islands, Trap Bay, Goose Flats, and 

 Berners Bay. These special areas have been identified by 

 communities as particularly important to them for subsistence, 

 sport, and commercial fishing, and the harvest of wildlife for 

 subsistence and sport. These high values are confirmed by our 

 Department of Fish and Game. 



The State of Alaska encourages this committee to consider 

 adopting the original Southeast compromise proposal rather than 

 enacting legislation which is unlikely to end the conflict over 

 the Tongass National Forest. The proposal not only reflects a 

 resolution of many issues of local concern, but addresses these 

 concerns in a manner which furthers the national interest in true 

 multiple use management of the National Forest. The State of 

 Alaska believes that this compromise is not only the best hope of 

 settling differences that divide the people of southeast Alaska, 

 but addresses the national interest in the Tongass as well. The 

 original compromise comes closer to satisfying the concerns of a 



