10 



STATEMENT OF STAN FILLER 



Mr. Filler. Thank you, and thank you for coming. 



My message will be brief because I know Keith said, basically, 

 what I feel, but when I look out in this room, it gives me more rea- 

 son to support your concept. 



A little over three years ago, we were given the Northwest Bara- 

 nof Timber Plan and told to make comments, send them back to 

 Washington, D.C., and for the last three years, I have seen the 

 same people in the room, and nobody seems to be satisfied, wheth- 

 er your control of the timber industry is going to be timber or it 

 is going to the environmental community, however you want to do 

 this, but the same people. And the same people carry the same 

 signs, and they are not satisfied, and I would submit to you that 

 with State ownership of this, we would make closure on some of 

 these issues. When you have a State as small as the State of Alas- 

 ka is in population, we know all our legislators, and we do have 

 input. We see this in State government every day, and when I look 

 out in this room, I see very dissatisfied people for one reason or an- 

 other, and from a standpoint of giving us our own ownership and 

 being able to make our own decisions, we can do it much better 

 here in the State of Alaska than they can do it in Washington, D.C. 



Some of the issues that Keith spoke of, I hear that every day 

 from people as we see visitors coming to our community and look- 

 ing at this pristine wilderness. They go out here to Camp Coogan, 

 which is pristine wilderness, which was clearcut twenty years ago, 

 and our trees do grow back. We have a renewable resource, and I 

 think we need to take advantage of that. 



I will close with that and thank you for coming. 



The Chairman. Thank you, Stan, and each one of you witnesses, 

 here, really reestablish what I have been saying all along, that you 

 do have some deep, deep interest, and there is no way the issues 

 are going to be closed if they are continually decisions made in 

 Washington, D.C, and I will have some questions, but I would like 

 to say one thing. 



For those that I noticed who were carrying placards outside and 

 some in this room, what is the fear of Alaskans' participating in 

 the decisionmaking policy? If I were one of those people that, very 

 frankly, wanted to have the so-called pristine area of Alaska, I 

 would support the local control because some day along the line 

 there will be a different time, and back in Washington, D.C, they 

 will make a decision that will be contrary to any preservationist's 

 concept, and that will happen without any local input, and, again, 

 the people who live here will be constantly put under that stress, 

 and I think Keith put it very well: If it had not been for Senator 

 Stevens' million dollars in Federal moneys for training programs — 

 the mayor will have to realize this — the economy of this area is 

 going to be very, very bleak next year, and the economy of South- 

 east is going to be a lot more bleak if we do not try to solve these 

 problems. Mr. Mayor, you mentioned a ten-year supply of timber. 

 The Forest Service turned down Sealaska's request for a ten-year 

 contract. 



What was their comment when you went to the Forest Service 

 with your pilot program? Why could not they meet your sugges- 

 tion? 



