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Senator Murkowski. Mr. Metcalf, in your testimony you indicat- 

 ed on page 7 that the Forest Service planning alternative is, I 

 think the quote is, is a sham, and that the Forest Service has not 

 prepared a basic forest plan, notwithstanding TLMP, and that Mr. 

 Overbay of the Forest Service's Washington office has scuttled 

 plans for a true TLMP revision. 



Am I correct in that? 



Mr. Metcalf. We talked with the planners in Juneau. They went 

 through what they are going to be able to do with this new plan. 



Senator Murkowski. That is correct. 



Mr. Metcalf. And it is substantially different from what they 

 promised they would do. 



Senator Murkowski. How many public meetings did you folks 

 hold around Southeast Alaska to explain your land planning proc- 

 ess? 



Mr. Metcalf. We feel that we are a grassroots organization. We 

 have dealt with a number of organizations and communities. We 

 are represented in most of the communities. 



Senator Murkowski. But no public meetings were held to formu- 

 late your land planning proposal? 



Mr. Metcalf. Which land planning proposal? 



Senator Murkowski. Well, this one here, your position on the 

 Tongass land management plan. 



Mr. Metcalf. You mean the set-aside areas? 



Senator Murkowski. Yes. 



Mr. Metcalf. Those were generated by a number of organiza- 

 tions and communities throughout Southeast Alaska. 



Senator Murkowski. But organizations, as opposed to the public 

 process, is that right? 



Mr. Metcalf. We do not have a public process, obviously. 



Senator Murkowski. You do not have a public process, okay. 



Did you consult with other multiple use resource groups, includ- 

 ing the timber industry, in making your land resource allocations? 



Mr. Metcalf. Perhaps they have consulted with us from time to 

 time. 



Senator Murkowski. Well, it is academic, then. The answer is 

 yes? 



Mr. Metcalf. We have had a number of discussions with them. 



Senator Murkowski. What opportunities did SEACC afford the 

 public to change the boundaries on its land proposals? 



Mr. Metcalf. The land proposals again that we had were gener- 

 ated by 



Senator Murkowski. Did you get review or anything like that? 

 Did you receive comments from the public? 



Mr. Metcalf. Well, let us look at it this way. If the Forest Serv- 

 ice portrays H.R. 987 in the Tongass plan and does a reasonable job 

 of it, that certainly would give the public an opportunity. 



But as I said here, I do not think that it is going to be portrayed 

 accurately, and I do not think that the public is going to have an 

 opportunity to even respond if it were allowed to go ahead. 



Senator Murkowski. Well, is it not true then that basically the 

 SEACC board did not have the opportunity of public output, or 

 input I should say, from the standpoint of the hearing process and 

 so forth that we ordinarily go through? 



