120 



I think the regional forester was in error, that this was the wild- 

 life at least for KPC. This was the alternative display that was best 

 for wildlife. This was not the worst case scenario, as was stated. 



I further refer you to page 15 and 18 in my testimony, which 

 shows the charts of the decline of wildlife. Those figures came di- 

 rectly out of the Forest Service computer runs and their backup 

 programs. So that is one of the serious problems that we are facing. 



But perhaps even more serious is the fact that the timber data 

 base is so inaccurate that it cannot be applied to any land unit 

 smaller than what the Forest Service calls geozones. These geo- 

 zones average about 375,000 acres, and the Forest Service will be 

 unable to assess on-site impacts in sufficient detail to resolve spe- 

 cific issues. 



These major problems with the timber type data base force the 

 Forest Service into abandoning most of its promises as to what the 

 revised plan will be able to do. After all of these years of telling 

 the public to wait for the Tongass revision, the Forest Service is 

 now saying, wait until later because the revision will not be specif- 

 ic enough. 



I would like to enter into the record a list of the promises that 

 the Forest Service made in their study plan and, according to our 

 discussions with them, what they will now be able to provide. 



We met several weeks ago with the Tongass study planning team 

 and we reviewed with them the alternative inputs that they are 

 going to provide in this draft. They had one that incorporates H.R. 

 987. 



In the alternative that they showed us, the Forest Service had 

 removed hundreds of thousands of acres of commercial timber 

 land, some of it that had already been cut, and this was far beyond 

 what was proposed in H.R. 987. As a result, this alternative implies 

 a very large reduction in timber supply, perhaps three times what 

 is really in H.R. 987, and I think this is an obvious attempt by the 

 Forest Service to deceive the Congress and the public and to falsify 

 or discredit H.R. 987. 



I'm just simply saying that the draft that the Forest Service is 

 going to bring out in June or July, whenever it comes out, will not 

 lessen the level of controversy. In fact, I can guarantee it will in- 

 crease it. 



The only solution is for Congress to enact comprehensive Tongass 

 reform, and I urge you to do that. Thank you. 



[The prepared statement of Mr. Metcalf follows:] 



