400 



Conclusion 



Mr. Chairman, the evidence shows that the AMS is a product 

 of an entrenched bureaucracy that is choosing to obscure impor- 

 tant issues rather than to resolve them. This document confirms 

 the agency's bias towards the timber program, even though logging 

 on the Tongass represents one of the most egregious below-cost 

 timber programs in the nation and threatens the other valuable 

 economic and ecological resources on the Tongass. While The 

 Wilderness Society strongly supports the forest planning process 

 and wants to work constructively with the Forest Service, we 

 believe the AMS represents poor planning. Major corrections are 

 needed in this document before the planning process can proceed. 

 The plan must be made site specific, it must be based on accurate 

 information, and it must respond to public needs. Taxpayers 

 should not be expected to pay for poor planning and mismanagement 

 of a valuable public resource. 



I thank committee members for their interest in the Tongass 

 planning process and urge you to begin correcting the many 

 problems I have identified. 



