19 



I, for one, dispute the logging problem. At my age, I cannot run 

 around old growth, and the mountains around here are at least 

 3,000 feet high. So I hunt the logged-off areas. That is where all 

 the deer is at, and I get my share. Once in a while I feel brave and 

 I go out into a old-growth logging road and hunt, and they have 

 upped the deer bag limit. It is not less. It is more. And so I do not 

 see any problem there, and I wish they would quit perpetuating 

 that lie. It is amazing: The people that should know better do not, 

 and that is the sad part, including long-time people. And I am 

 proud to be an Indian and I am proud of my heritage. I was an 

 environmentalist long before people. I did not go to college to be an 

 environmentalist. I was brought up like that. My dad — that was 

 part of my culture. 



So I — the reason I said this about Sitka, all the stuff, the build- 

 ing, the infrastructure here, was put in by a lot of elected officials. 

 I agreed with most of them. I disagree wholeheartedly with a lot 

 of them, and I still do. And I talked to Stan and I talked to Ann 

 and I talked to Perkins. I disagree with what they are doing, but 

 look at the result over the years. Is Sitka worse off or better? Look 

 at the Centennial Building. Is it worse or better than before, before 

 logging, before the wood industry? 



I've seen a lot of changes since the mill came. When I got out 

 of the navy, they did not give me my muster-out pay. When I was 

 discharged, they waited three months, but in the meantime I lived 

 with my dad. I went with a girl locally. I could not buy her a cup 

 of coffee. There was absolutely no work in town. That was before 

 the mill. I do not call that quality of life or living, but you look at 

 the — you say, well, did the wood products fulfill their contract? 

 Well, look at Sitka. Did it fulfill its contract? We have got two 

 dams, we have got a beautiful city, we have got a water treatment. 

 Did they fulfill their contract? 



That is my point on this whole story about Sitka. I believe that 

 the Tongass should be transferred over to the State. At least I can 

 call Robin Taylor or Ben Grussendorf if I disagree with what they 

 are doing. I talk to Mary McDowell. She is an aide to the governor. 

 I cannot call — I have talked to the Lieutenant Governor, Fran 

 Ulmer, before the election, and can I do that with Al Gore? I can- 

 not. I think we would have better control. 



At least if we do not like what the people are doing, we can kick 

 them out locally. We cannot do that today. 



Thank you. 



The Chairman. Thank you, Russ, and I want to stress two 

 things. I am glad you brought back the history, and just for your 

 information, the lady from New York that has been mentioned, the 

 annual harvest in the Tongass prior to 1990 was 364 million board 

 feet. That is from the Tongass. That is with both mills operating, 

 the Wrangell mill and the Metlakatla mill. That is average. New 

 York's average, the State of New York, is 1.8 billion board feet a 

 year, but it is all on private land, and those New York legislators 

 do not even realize it, and it is a renewable timber industry. 



Arkansas has 750 million board feet, the President's State. Texas 

 is 4 billion board feet, Texas, and yet we talk about harvesting less 

 than 364 million board feet annually, and what is being proposed 

 now is very minimal. Somehow this message has got to be gotten 



