49 



I would suggest one thing. The comment "cannot do any better, 

 cannot do any worse" — and I agree with your comment — that this 

 is nothing personal to the local forestry people. Unfortunately, as 

 I have talked to Mr. Janik and Gary, a lot of their decisions are 

 ignored back east, and I think that is a very sad way to manage 

 a forest that does affect people. 



Elaine, you are up next. I want to thank you for coming. Mayor 

 of Coffman Cove. 



STATEMENT OF ELAINE PRICE, MAYOR, COFFMAN COVE 



Ms. Price. I would like to say that I am Elaine Price of Coffman 

 Cove, and I am the mayor of Coffman Cove, but the city council of 

 Coffman Cove has not had any dialog on this subject at all, so I 

 am not representing the city. 



The Chairman. That is fine. 



Ms. Price. Just my own personal opinions. 



And, second, I believe that all Federal land should be turned over 

 to the states west of the Mississippi. I do not feel I have the right 

 to tell people how to live and manage their land in Florida, Geor- 

 gia, New York, or Massachusetts, and they do not have a right to 

 tell us how to manage or live on our land in Alaska, Oregon, Wash- 

 ington, and Idaho. 



I feel if there was a land transfer in Alaska, it should be all Fed- 

 eral land, not just the Tongass, but at the same time I feel our 

 State government is loaded with preservationists. The DNR and 

 the DOT, in general, are very difficult to deal with. If a land trans- 

 fer were to take place, things would have to change drastically on 

 a State level. 



I also feel that the Forest Service personnel gets blamed for a lot 

 that is not their fault. I think the Forest Service people who are 

 actually in Thome Bay, Craig, Ketchikan, and Wrangell could do 

 a good job of managing the forest if they were left alone to do their 

 job and not constantly hog-tied by mandates from Washington, 

 D.C., passed on by people who have never been here and get their 

 information from special interest groups and the Discover channel. 



So, in closing, I guess I have to admit I have mixed feelings. I 

 support the transfer in concept, but I feel there is a lot of ground- 

 work that needs to be done. I think Alaskans are better able to 

 manage Alaska if we can set up a sensible resources development 

 plan, and I stress "sensible." 



The Chairman. Thank you. Are you through? 



Ms. Price. Yes. 



The Chairman. Thank you very much. I love elected officials that 

 do not talk very long. I think it is great. 



Now, Jerry, you are in the hot seat. We have Representative 

 Jerry Mackie. 



STATEMENT OF JERRY MACKIE, A STATE REPRESENTATIVE 



IN ALASKA 



Mr. Mackie. Thank you. Congressman. I do not know if that is 

 a direct message there or not. 



The Chairman. You are doing fine. 



Mr. Mackie. For the record, I apologize. I do not have written 

 testimony because I do not write speeches. I usually just talk. 



