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STATEMENT OF DON FINNEY 



ALASKA LOGGERS ASSOCIATION 



BEFORE THE SENATE ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE 



February 28, 1989 



Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, my name is Don 

 Finney. I am the Manager of the Alaska Loggers Association (ALA). 

 The ALA is made up of logging companies, sawmills, and pulp mills 

 throughout Alaska, representing 110 separate companies and 4,400 

 workers. In addition, there are 200 associate members which employ 

 several thousand persons both in Alaska and in the lower-48. 



Attached hereto is a copy of my November 5, 1987 

 testimony before this Committee on S 708. That testimony explains 

 in some detail why Section 705 was made part of the Alaska National 

 Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) in 1980. 



THE TONGASS IS NOT IN CRISIS . It is fact that in order 

 to get quick action on proposed legislation, it is useful to create 

 a crisis atmosphere. Accordingly, we have seen such things alleged 

 as the Tongass contributing to global warming, the Tongass listed 

 in one news story along with the Chernobyl and other major environ- 

 mental disasters, and the rallying cry that the timber industry is 

 "destroying" the last great rain forest in the United States. Such 

 comparisons really need to be disposed of before it is possible to 

 have a reasonable debate on the merits of the various proposals for 

 mid-course corrections to Section 705 of ANILCA. 



The Tongass is not in crisis. To begin with, there are 

 16.7 million acres in the Tongass National Forest, of which 5.6 

 million acres are designated wilderness. In addition, there are 

 approximately 2 million acres in the Glacier Bay National Monument 



