TONGASS TRANSFER AND TRANSITION ACT 



WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 1996 



House of Representatives, 



Committee on Resources, 



Sitka, AK. 

 The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:00 a.m. in the Cen- 

 tennial Building, Sitka, Alaska, Hon. Don Young (Chairman of the 

 Committee) presiding. 



STATEMENT OF THE HON. DON YOUNG, A U.S. REPRESENTA- 

 TIVE FROM ALASKA; AND CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON RE- 

 SOURCES 



The Chairman. Welcome to the third hearing of the House Com- 

 mittee on Resources about the Tongass Transfer and Transition 

 Act. I want to thank all of you for coming, especially the witnesses. 



Summ.er is a tough time for people to spare an hour to contribute 

 in Congressional field hearings like this. I really appreciate every- 

 one's effort today. Most of you must feel as though we have been 

 through this wringer on the Tongass issue many, many times. You 

 have been asked again to come and talk about the future of the for- 

 est that you and 75,000 other Alaskans call home. But this hearing 

 about the Tongass is different. 



This is a hearing not about how the Federal Government should 

 manage the Tongass. This hearing is about whether Alaskans, 

 through our State government, want the option — I want to stress 

 the option — to own and manage the Tongass. This hearing is about 

 whether our State might do a better job managing the Tongass 

 without the Federal Government calling the shots from Washing- 

 ton, D.C. 



Do Alaskans want to control their future in Southeast or should 

 our future be left to political appointees who reside thousands of 

 miles from the results of their decisions? That is the question. 



I stress: This hearing is not about the level of recreation, tour- 

 ism, fishing, or timber harvesting that should occur in the Tongass 

 or around Sitka; this hearing is about where control of the Tongass 

 should rest and whether you want the option to put control in 

 State hands. 



We are not here to discuss whether Sitkans agree on the Poison 

 Cove timber sale or any other timber sale. We are not here to dis- 

 cuss whether Sitkans want clearcutting on the Tongass or whether 

 Sitkans want any timber industry at all. 



Do not get me wrong. These issues are important. In my view, 

 they are too important for the Federal Government to tackle. 



(1) 



