151 



This is far less than direct employment levels in commercial fishing (3400) or 

 tourism (3500) in southeast Alaska -- and still 1000 timber jobs less than in 

 1980. Industry claims of over 4000 direct Tongass timber jobs in recent 

 hearings in Congress are quite inaccurate. They often also include hundreds 

 of Forest Service employees in the totals. 



S.346 WILL NOT HURT THE "INDEPENDENT" LOGGERS ON THE TONGASS . In perhaps the 

 most cynical argument used to attack Tongass reform, the pulp mills have 

 claimed that the bill would negatively affect "independent" loggers on the 

 forest. For example, Mr. Jim Clark, attorney for and vice president of APC , 

 last year claimed in the Wrangell Sentinel newspaper that small independent 

 operators would be at risk by passage of last year's Tongass Timber Reform 

 Act. Clark used the Wrangell Forest Products (WFP) mill operated by Mr. Steve 

 Seley as his prime example. The Wrangell mill is owned by the Alaska Pulp 

 Company and leased by Seley. It acts as the sawmill for APC's contract area. 

 At least 50% of the Wrangell mill's production is from APC's contract. 

 Recently, when Seley tried to buy the mill in conjunction with Sealaska 

 Corporation, APC "bought out" Seley' s lease and hired him to manage the mill. 

 The headline of an article in the Wrangell Sentinel read: "Sealaska official: 

 50-year contracts stop WFP deal." 



Additionally, it is ironic that one of the same two pulp mills 

 found guilty of anti- trust violations in 1981 and of putting several small 

 independent operators out of business, should now be so concerned over the 

 future of independent operators. Here is how Martha Reid, whose family's 

 logging company successfully sued the giant pulp mills in the landmark Reid 



32 



