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Mayor Hallgren's Testimony on HR2413 

 July 3, 1996 

 Page 3 



My personal view is: 



A. The Bill presently requires the APC contract to be reinstated with the 

 requirement that it be sold to a third party who would agree to construct a 

 manufacturing facility in Southeast. Such a re-instatement would likely increase 

 competition for available timber to Sitka's fiarther detriment. Rather, if, as I suspect, 

 the APC contract was improperly canceled, the Federal Government should bite the 

 bullet and pay APC proper damages. 



B. The Bill presently mandates a Tongass land grant to the Native people of 

 Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell totaling between 115,200 

 acres and 230,400 acres. This idea has been kicking around for 25 years and carries 

 little support in Sitka. It is highly divisive and should be separated from the Bill and 

 stand or die on its own merits. 



C. Major issues not solved by your Bill are the Endangered Species Act and 

 the Wetlands Protection Act. Improperly wielded, they can be used as federal clubs 

 to impose national ideological mandates that don't fit the circumstances of Southeast. 



