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If the purpose was simply to make a profit for the 

 federa] government, then we could do so. Alaska Native 

 corporations have sold their timber -- as round logs -- at a 

 profit. The Forest Service informs me that if they had been 

 selling timber for export as unprocessed logs they could 

 have made money in even the leanest years in the Tongass. 



But our objective is not just to make a profit -- it is 

 to have a domestic wood products industry and so to create 

 jobs. If we are to have one, we must maintain a reliable 

 supply of timber to the mills. Otherwise, no businessman in 

 his right mind will invest in this industry. 



We could require the Forest Service to "make a profit" 

 on all of its timber sales. This would mean timber prices 

 could not be lowered, even if market prices for wood 

 products dropped. Our timber industry, which could not sell 

 products at higher than market price, would shut down. 



Once shut down, Alaska's timber industry would have 

 little chance of beginning again. We can not put our 

 workers on a shelf, to be taken out again when markets 

 improve . 



Or we could allow round logs to be exported from Forest 

 Service lands. In so doing we would export American jobs. 

 That is simply not a viable option. 



