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timber. Another three will run out in 2 years, and the final three will 

 run out of timber two years after that. Sealaska Corporation, the 

 regional native corporation, will run out of timber in the next five to 

 eight years. 



When that happens, those villages which wish to continue timber 

 harvesting southeast Alaska must do so on the Tongass National 

 Forest. Accordingly, the increased harvest levels brought about by 

 change and exchange rates and the increased pressure from native 

 corporations wishing to harvest on national forest land will keep 

 the harvest levels high throughout the decade of the 1990s. 



With the exception of the legislation proposed by the Alaska del- 

 egation, the various proposals for legislation would cost the Ameri- 

 can taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, seriously disrupt the 

 industry in southeast Alaska, and make a mockery of the Tongass 

 forest planning process. 



S. 346 would repeal section 705 entirely, cancel the long-term 

 timber sales, and set aside 23 areas in advance of the Tongass land 

 management process. This result is not justified by any impact on 

 the environment from harvesting. 



Even if we were harvesting up to the maximum rate that the in- 

 dustry could harvest, we are opposed to Senator Wirth's bill. We 

 urge careful consideration by this committee before any legislative 

 action is taken. 



The Forest Service and each of the two pulp mills are negotiat- 

 ing to make the changes in the long-term sale which the House has 

 previously identified as matters of concern. It makes sense to let 

 the two parties of these contracts attempt to work out identified 

 problems. There is no need for legislation. It is wrong for Congress 

 to legislate in an area dealing with a contract between parties. 



If section 705 is repealed, it will reduce the timber supply from 

 the Tongass by a third, notwithstanding the increased demand 

 from national forest timber described above. This will occur be- 

 cause without the direction to manage a timber sale program pro- 

 viding availability of a supply of 4.5 billion per decade and suffi- 

 cient appropriations to achieve that harvest level, the 1970 Tongass 

 forest plan shows the Tongass can produce only 3.8 billion board 

 feet per decade. Such a drop in the allowable sale quality will 

 cause a dramatic loss in jobs. 



Some people have argued that section 705 should be repealed be- 

 cause it makes the Tongass different from any other national 

 forest. Congress made the Tongass different from every other na- 

 tional forest in 1980 when in section 703 as part of ANILCA it des- 

 ignated so much wilderness on the forest that the nonwilderness 

 lands which remained open to timber harvest could not support the 

 then existing level of jobs on a sustained yield basis. 



Section 705, which was based on an alternative to TLMP recorn- 

 mended by a regional forester in 1979, was designed to solve this 

 problem. The idea then was to use intensive management monies 

 to increase sustained yield from the nonwilderness lands open to 

 timber harvest and thus provide a sustained yield harvest of 4.5 

 billion board feet per decade. 



Currently, the Alaska Loggers Association recognizes a need for 

 a change in the Tongass timber supply fund. It has always been the 

 case that the amount harvested in any one year would depend 



