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aside specific areas of special importance to local communities. 

 The Southeast Conference has emphasized over and again that it does 

 not want wilderness areas, but instead suggests that if Congress 

 is going to preempt the TLMP process it should consider special "no 

 timber harvest" designation only in certain specified areas. These 

 areas would be areas of no timber harvest. These areas would be 

 areas near communities which community residents could use for such 

 things as recreation. 



The ALA is adamantly opposed to the SEACC proposal as 

 incorporated in HR 987. HR 987 would add 23 new wilderness areas 

 containing 1.8 million acres more of designated wilderness. This 

 is in addition to the 5.4 million acres of wilderness designated 

 by ANILCA in 1980. It would reduce the allowable sale quantity by 

 more than 75 million board feet and interrupt four operations 

 currently under contract. It would preclude planned timber 

 operations in three additional areas. The impacts of this 

 additional wilderness cannot be justified by any type of rational 

 land planning. This is why the environmental community is 

 attempting to get Congress to legislate it in advance of the TLMP 

 revision process. 



I would now like to show you the problems with the 23 

 areas SEACC has proposed: [show maps] 



The second issue for today's hearing concerns Congres- 

 sionally mandated buffer strips. HR 987 requires buffer strips on 

 all Class I, II and III streams. The Forest Service has determined 

 that this would reduce the allowable sale quantity for the Tongass 



