121 



report on the status of Tongass management. ANILCA Section 706(b) directed 

 that this status report be presented for Congressional review every two years, 

 beginning in 1985. 



For the past ten years I have been involved with SEACC and last 

 year became President of the Board of Directors. I am a 12 -year resident of 

 Sitka where I originally moved when hired by the Alaska Pulp Corporation as a 

 mechanical engineer. Since quitting APC after a short tenure my primary 

 employment has been operation of my own small business and work for the Alaska 

 Department of Fish and Game as a fisheries technician. 



The Tongass is my home. Our nation's largest national forest, it 

 is a magnificent coastal rainforest comprised of huge conifers which have 

 taken hundreds of years to attain maturity. It is home to the world's largest 

 concentrations of grizzly bears and bald eagles, and its streams are spawning 

 and rearing habitat for 90 percent of southeast Alaska's salmon. Visitors who 

 come to the Tongass for its wilderness values have made tourism the region's 

 fastest growing industry. 



I. SEACC SUPPORTS PASSAGE OF S.346 



S.346 WOULD BRING BALANCED MANAGEMENT TO THE TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST . SEACC 

 strongly supports S.346, the Tongass Timber Reform Act, introduced by Senator 

 Tim Wirth and currently co-sponsored by over 20 Republicans and Democrats in 

 the Senate. The bill is very similar to legislation passed by the U.S. House 

 of Representatives last July by a total of 361-47. This legislation would be 

 a major step toward resolving the senseless resource management problems on 



