40 



shut down the timber industry by restricting the timber supply and 

 to dedicate more of the forest to roadless, noncommodity uses. 



Now, the problems we have with my colleague's bill, Senate bill 

 346, are that Senator Wirth's bill would carry out the national 

 preservation groups' agenda for the Tongass. The Wirth bill at- 

 tempts to shut down the industry through cancellation of contracts, 

 reduction of the timber supply, and it would remove an additional 

 1.7 million acres from multiple use management, making old 

 growth protection the priority use in these areas. 



Restricting the timber supply and reducing multiple use lands is 

 the other question. Well, S.346 leaves only 30 percent of the entire 

 16.8 million acre forest available for multiple uses such as timber 

 management and road access, hunting, fishing and recreation. This 

 will greatly affect the future growth of Southeastern Alaska and 

 will eliminate any possibility that many isolated communities 

 would some day be connected by a road system. 



Well, let us throw out the planning effort just prior to comple- 

 tion, which is what is suggested in Senator Wirth's bill. Senator 

 Wirth's bill stops the current forest planning effort in its tracks. 



The Tongass Forest planning team has worked for nearly two 

 years at a cost of some $5 million. The draft plan is due in Decem- 

 ber of this year. Why not wait for the recommendations? 



Hearings have been held in nearly every community across 

 Southeastern Alaska. Hundreds of people have invested their faith, 

 their valuable time and their opinions in the planning policy. 

 Every witness that is here today has done so. The State of Alaska 

 has worked thousands of man hours preparing its input into the 

 forest plan. All of this effort would be wasted by the Wirth bill. 



Circumventing the planning process with statutory land designa- 

 tions has also been mentioned. Well, S. 346 prescribes as a matter 

 of law, management priorities including old-growth ecosystems pro- 

 tection for 23 designated areas totalling nearly 1.8 million acres, 

 thus forcing the Forest Service to manage these areas as wilder- 

 ness. 



This bill would have Congress designate those lands just before — 

 just before, Mr. Chairman — the planning process is completed and 

 the resource managers have an opportunity to act, presumably be- 

 cause the Forest Service is not to be trusted to carry out its mis- 

 sion. 



The Tongass plan is the very first forest plan in the Nation to be 

 revised to circumvent the process. In this way, I think, it sets a 

 very bad precedent. How many more plans for other national for- 

 ests will be brought before this committee to be tailored to suit 

 preservation interests before the revisions are complete? I think we 

 would have to agree that there is merit to let the resource profes- 

 sionals determine the proper balance between old-growth ecosys- 

 tem protection and active forest management. 



Reneging on contracts and a commitment to Southeastern 

 Alaska is of course an issue that underlines this whole hearing. 

 The Wirth proposal abrogates the contracts with the two mills that 

 depend on the Tongass Forest for wood fiber. The exposure of the 

 United States obviously is sufficient, and significant, running into 

 the hundreds of millions of dollars. 



