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THE TONGASS LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN . The Tongass National 

 Forest was the first National Forest for which there was a forest 

 plan. The plan came out in draft in August 1978 and was the 

 vehicle used by this Committee under Senator Jackson's chairmanship 

 to forge a Tongass Section in the ANILCA bill. Pursuant to the 

 National Forest Management Act planning regulations, this is the 

 first forest plan to be revised. Thus far, the Tongass forest 

 planning team has worked for two years at a cost of $3.7 million. 

 The draft forest plan is expected out in the form of a draft 

 environmental impact statement in December, 1989. The process 

 which is in place for the Tongass is the same process as that for 

 every other National Forest. Using public input and the planning 

 process, hundreds of peopl>e across Southeast Alaska and the country 

 have presented their views to the planning team. This is the 

 process in which the land allocation proposals which you will hear 

 from various groups today should be considered. 



The ALA respectfully submits that if the idea is accepted 

 to make the Tongass like other National Forests, then the approach 

 to the Tongass should be like that in every other National Forest. 

 Land allocations on the Tongass should await the recommendations 

 of the Forest Service planning team. 



THE TONGASS IS BACK ECONOMICALLY . During the period 1982 

 through 1986, the forest products industry on the Tongass National 

 Forest, like the forest industry nationally, suffered a severe 

 depression. Demand for products from National Forest land were 

 greatly reduced such that timber harvest, for example, in 1985 



