316 



Mr. Finney. Yes. It says: "The new regulation will require a 15 

 meter conditional harvest zone adjacent to the stream and a 15- 

 meter riparian management zone outside of the conditional harvest 

 zone on streams with salmon. No trees will be harvested from the 

 conditional harvest zone unless the operator can demonstrate that 

 harvest will not result in damage to fish habitat. 



"For example, if the operator wants to harvest some large trees 

 that may be adjacent to a small stream, it may be permitted by the 

 DNR because a small stream does not require large trees for fish 

 habitat. 



"In the outer riparian management zone, harvest of 50 percent 

 of the timber will be permitted as long as the trees that are re- 

 tained are representative of the size composition of the stand. If 

 these regulations cause the landowner to leave more than five per- 

 cent of the total volume in the basin, either the width of the ripari- 

 an management zone must be reduced or the State must compen- 

 sate the owner for the timber." 



Senator Murkowski. Or the State must what? 



Mr. Finney. Compensate the owner for the timber. 



Senator Murkowski. Compensate. So there is certainly an incen- 

 tive there. 



Mr. Finney. To leave a minimum, yes, to be forced to leave a 

 minimum amount of material. 



Senator Murkowski. Well, it has been an interesting, enlighten- 

 ing little bit. 



Mr. Metcalf, you have been aware of this, I guess, inconsistency? 



Mr. Metcalf. Yes, I think you raise a really good point. While 

 the salmon resources on private land belong to the public, they also 

 need to be taken care of. You know, it has been very difficult to 

 craft a Forest Practices Act that has been effective. 



There has been considerable damage done on private land. Fish 

 and Game could document that. 



Senator Murkowski. Do they have that documentation? 



Mr. Metcalf. Yes, that is correct. 



Senator Murkowski. Mr. Anderson, do they have that documen- 

 tation? 



Dr. Anderson. Yes, they do. 



Senator Murkowski. Is it public? 



Dr. Anderson. It can certainly be made available. 



Senator Murkowski. I would request it for the record. 



Mr. Metcalf. And I think the point of that is that that puts a 

 greater burden on the national forest land to do a better job. 



Senator Murkowski. I agree. 



Mr. Metcalf. I also certainly understand the problem that Gold- 

 belt has. The mainland is a very difficult place to operate, very ero- 

 dable soils, very steep, V-bottoms, a very difficult place. 



There has been on the Chuck River in the Goldbelt logging area, 

 there has been several major landslides. Some of the blowdown has 

 come down. 



In talking to Mr. Wilson several weeks ago, he suggested, and I 

 would be really interested to know if he still feels this way, that if 

 the provisions, the buffer strip provisions in H.R. 987 were enacted, 

 it would not be possible for them to log in the Chuck River. 



I think that simply shows the difficulty that he is faced with. 



