16 



The guarantees that are contained in the 1980 act were guaran- 

 tees that came forward, developed over a period of time; Senators, 

 some now deceased and many gone, worked long hours trying to 

 find a reasonable compromise. We accepted the effort and wanted 

 to get this behind us. Unless we found a way to lift the land freezes 

 our, state had little chance to really develop in terms of the capac- 

 ity of the natives to develop their lands or the state to be able to 

 utilize its land. 



Gentlemen, I have joined with Senator Murkowski in his bill and 

 I commend it to you. I want to thank you very much for your com- 

 mitment to go to Alaska to hold hearings. There are great differ- 

 ences of opinion now, but the overwhelming population of South- 

 east Alaska and of the whole state is still, in my judgment, of the 

 opinion that a compromise was made and sufficient time in a 

 period of economic balance, has not transpired in order for us to 

 judge whether or not that compromise should now be changed in 

 any way. 



I am hopeful that the committee will look at Southeast Alaska 

 from the same perspective that we do. It is an area, after all, the 

 size of West Virginia. It is an area that currently faces harvest, as 

 Senator McClure said, of about one tenth of 1 percent of that area 

 per year over a period of 100 years, when the cycle will be complet- 

 ed. 



We believe very sincerely that the timber industry should have a 

 role in the balanced economy of Southeast Alaska. It is an industry 

 which is a natural one for the area. This great forest was set aside 

 to assure a continued production of timber, and yet now it appears 

 there is a move to prevent the production of timber. 



I think the greatest threat that exists against the Tongass today 

 is the threat coming from those people who say there should be no 

 harvesting at all. To me, that would be a miscarriage of justice. 



I would like to wage the committee to go see the other great 

 forest in Alaska. We have another great forest that was set aside in 

 Alaska, and if you go into the interior of Alaska you will still find, 

 the greatest stands of hard wood in the United States. 



We ought not to be deprived of a timber industry at a time when 

 the demands for timber are rising, not only in the United States 

 but throughout the world; when the technology is such that we are 

 now assured that we can harvest timber and improve not only the 

 forest but the quality of the air and the quality of life for the wild- 

 life and the fisheries. Through today's technology, we can meet the 

 conflicting interest that has resulted in the conflicts brought to 

 your committee table now. 



Mr Chairman, I believe very sincerely that there is one argu- 

 ment that I keep hearing that has to be visited briefly. I keep hear- 

 ing the comment that the federal government does not make a 

 profit off harvesting timber in the Tongass. I would challenge you 

 to look at the statutes that concern the management of federal 

 timber to find the word "profit'. 



None of these forests were set aside to make a profit, but were 

 set aside in the days of Gifford Pinchot and others to assure protec- 

 tion of the area then the country would always have a continued 

 supply of timber from an area that would be a yardstick to meas- 



