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In the 10-year period from 1978 to 1987, the timber industry har- 

 vested 76,000 acres or 7,600 acres of national forest per year on the 

 average. That is right, we harvested only 7,600 acres per year of a 

 17 million acre national forest. All forest activity is regulated by 

 the Forest Service in accordance with the National Forest Manage- 

 ment Act regulations. Other resources are protected in full accord 

 with multiple use principles and the law. 



Remember that at the end of the 100-year rotation cycle, only 10 

 percent of the national forest land will have been harvested. 



The Tongass is back economically. During the period 1982 

 through 1986, the forest products industry on the Tongass National 

 Forest suffered a severe depression. Demand for products from the 

 national forest land were greatly reduced such that timber harvest, 

 for example, in 1985 dipped to 162.5 million board feet, the worst 

 year ever. 



The Tongass is now coming back. The forest industry is a strong 

 one-third of the economy of southeast Alaska. This produces a 

 grand total of 4,423 direct jobs, of which 1,000 jobs are from native 

 operations. Using a multiplier of 1.4, there were 10,615 direct and 

 indirect timber industry-related jobs in southeast Alaska in 1988. 



In 1987, the total dollar value of the forest products exported 

 from Alaska was $327 million. In 1988, it was $474 million, a 45 

 percent increase in 1988 over 1987. 



We are expecting even better results in 1989. While the largest 

 private timber landowner, Sealaska Corporation, has announced 

 that it may stop or reduce harvesting in 1989 as a result of a reve- 

 nue sharing dispute under section 7(i) of the Alaska Native Claims 

 Settlement Act with other regional corporations, the rest of the in- 

 dustry is harvesting at an accelerated rate to meet market 

 demand. 



This effort to accelerate harvest is frustrated by deferral of har- 

 vest in some areas due to lawsuits brought by the Sierra Club 

 Legal Defense Fund and the Southeast Alaska Conservation Coun- 

 cil, which are hindering the rate of harvest. 



At this moment, however, timber harvest could be increased and 

 jobs increased if further restraints imposed by these lawsuits were 

 lifted. 



The harvest rate we would anticipate for the Tongass forest for 

 1989 without such rates would be close to the 150 million board 

 feet that we are all talking about. 



The world market outlook remains very strong. Alaska pulp 

 products are sold in 20 countries. There has been worldwide resur- 

 gence in nylon and cellophane because of renewed recognition of 

 the strength of these biodegradable products. 



The change in exchange rates in the Pacific Rim has now posi- 

 tioned the Alaska saw mill industry so our labor costs are in direct 

 competition with those of countries to which we send our lumber 

 products. This is allowing us to increase the value added to our 

 forest products and compete and finish lumber markets. According- 

 ly, we will be able to supply jobs at an accelerating rate on the na- 

 tional forest land. 



Conversely, the village corporations in southeast Alaska estab- 

 lished under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 are 

 running out of timber. Six of those villages are already out of 



