333 



NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE 



RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY 



SENATORS JAMES A. McCLURE AND MALCOLM WALLOP 



TO THE NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE 



IN FOLLOWUP TO THE HEARING BY THE 



SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS, NATIONAL PARKS AND FORESTS 



COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES 



ON 



THE TONGASS TIMBER REFORM ACT 



February 26, 1990 



L. Prior to becoming Deputy Director of the Alaska Region of 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) , weren't you 

 the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game 

 (ADF&G)? 



Yes. 



!. In that capacity, did you, or did ADF&G advocate 100-foot 

 buffer strips on Class I, Class II, and some Class III 

 streams? 



No. At the time ADF&G just recommended the retention of 



buffer strips. 



. In fact, weren't you advocating the necessity of keeping all 

 woody debris (large and small) out of such streams and the 

 hand-cleaning of such streams to remove Large Woody Debris 

 where it had gone into those streams during timber sales? 



No. We only encouraged the removal of excessive debris 



introduced into streams by logging activities. 



Would you say that Forest Service attention to riparian 

 management has improved or gotten worse in the period since 

 you were Commissioner? 



In general, it has improved. 



If Forest Service riparian management is better now than 

 before and you weren't advocating mandatory prescriptive 

 buffer strips then (in fact, you were doing the opposite by 

 removing Large Woody Debris) , why do we need such 

 prescriptions now? 



As stated under question 3 above, we only encouraged the 



removal of excessive debris from logging activities. Since 



that time extensive research conducted by NMFS and others 



