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How was the new position developed? 



In sharp contrast to the original, the Conference's new position 

 was developed by the timber industry and railroaded through for 

 adoption in just seventeen days. 



On January 17, 1990, Senator Murkowski gave a speech to the 

 Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce where he asked the Southeast 

 Conference to revisit its position. In a January 18th letter, 

 new board member Dick Griffin asked the Conference to consider 

 changes. The specific changes were first presented at a meeting 

 on January 23rd and communities were given one week to comment. 

 Senator Murkowski formally urged the Conference to "clarify" its 

 position in a letter dated January 26. The changes were adopted 

 by the board on February 2 by a 9-2 vote. 



According to a press account of the January 23 meeting, Ralph 

 Lewis, a Ketchikan Pulp Company employee and Southeast Conference 

 board member, stated that he and members of Senator Murkowski' s 

 staff prepared the new proposal. This was done without the 

 knowledge of some board members, who received the new proposal 

 anywhere from one week to one day prior to the meeting. 



What are the changes? 



The new Southeast Conference position is being portrayed as 

 something that will "clarify" set-aside boundaries and protect 

 additional areas of concern to communities. Instead, it guts the 

 watersheds which are of the greatest concern to small communities 

 while adding four other areas. Four of the premier salmon 

 producing watersheds now have their river valleys removed from 

 set-aside status. The additions were simply a sop for covering 

 up the industry's blatant attempt to get at the timber in these 

 key river valleys regardless of the negative effects on fish and 

 wildlife and the communities dependent or those resources. 

 Additionally, one of the new areas — Idaho Inlet — was also 

 gutted, while the Conference claimed to be responding to Elfin 

 Cove's concerns. 



The maps for the new position are nearly identical to ALA 

 proposals and maps offered by Senator Murkowski during the 1989 

 Conference Committee. Furthermore, under the new Conference 

 position for the Lisianski River, Upper Hoonah Sound, and Trap 

 Bay, logging areas are virtually identical to the proposed 

 logging plans for Alaska Pulp Corporation's 1986-90 EIS. The 

 Conference's new proposal also closely resembles earlier Alaska 

 Pulp plans for heavily logging the Kadashan watershed. 



Attached for your review is a memo from the Alaska Department of 

 Fish and Game detailing the effects the changes would have on 



