282 



(2) Goldbelt could use its infrastructure at 



Hobart Bay in connection with five planned 

 U.S. Forest Service timber sales adjacent to 

 Goldbelt lands, including Chuck River. 



The planned timber sales by the U.S. Forest Service on lands 

 adjacent to Goldbelt 's at Hobart Bay were one of the main reasons 

 that Goldbelt was willing to give up the benefit of such cost- 

 sharing arrangements elsewhere. These timber sales are a part of 

 the independent sales program reserved for small companies such 

 as Goldbelt, and not part of the long-term contracts to supply 

 the pulpmills. 



We were shocked and distressed to discover last summer that 

 among the 1.8 million acres of additional wilderness proposed for 

 the Tongass by the House bill are two areas, designated the Chuck 

 River and the Port Houghton-Sanborn Canal Wilderness Areas. 

 These two proposed wilderness areas would virtually encapsulate 

 our Hobart Bay property and drastically effect the economic 

 viability of logging the nearby Forest Service timber sales which 

 Goldbelt had counted on in trading Admiralty Island lands for 

 Hobart Bay. 



We believe we are being treated unfairly because we thought 

 we had earlier made our peace with the conservationist groups 

 when we abandoned our original Admiralty Island selection and 



