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alternative wood products for manufacture in Sitka. Sitka 

 residents are playing an important role in this effort and have 

 worked with the Forest Service to design the study and will 

 continue to be involved as the work progresses. The first phase 

 of the study is scheduled to be completed in March 1996. 



This commitment to the communities of Southeast Alaska will 

 continue into the future. In fact, the Forest Service, through 

 its RCA program, intends to provide more than $750,000 in grant 

 money to resource dependent communities in Alaska in FY 1996. 



The Forest Service was also charged with the distribution of the 

 Southeast Alaska Economic Funds through out Southeast Alaska. I 

 am pleased to say we are working hard to make these funds 

 available to the communities. We have notified eligible 

 communites how they can begin receiving their portion of the $110 

 million in grants and payments and some communities have already 

 received checks. 



7. Strengthening relationships with the State of Alaska. 



Our relationship with the agencies of the State of Alaska have 

 never been better, but we will continue to work to enhance them. 

 Last summer, the Chief of the Forest Service, Jack Ward Thomas, 

 met with the Governor, Tony Knowles, and reached an agreement on 

 14 points critical to both the State and the Forest Service. I 

 ask that a copy of that agreement be made part of the record of 



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