208 



Senator Murkowski. I appreciate your testimony, Mr. Banzhaf. 



You indicated that you felt that with regard to the TLMP study 

 under way that it was meaningful. Can you evaluate where it 

 would be in your opinion as a consequence of Senator Wirth's bill, 

 S. 346, recognizing that we have already heard some testimony 

 with regard to the utilization of it if, indeed, S. 346 passed? 



Mr. Banzhaf. Well, if S. 346 passed it would appear that we 

 would essentially begin again the planning process and that the in- 

 formation that will hopefully be available in nine months, the deci- 

 sion to renew the planning process would be made even before we 

 actually had that date available to us. 



Senator Murkowski. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. 



I would call on Mr. Gerald Gray, Director of Resource Policy, 

 American Forestry Association, Washington, DC. 



STATEMENT OF GERALD GRAY, DIRECTOR OF RESOURCE 

 POLICY, AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION 



Mr. Gray. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



I am Gerald Gray, Director of Resource Policy for the American 

 Forestry Association. We are the national citizens organization for 

 trees, forests and forestry, and we are very pleased to be here today 

 to share with you our views on the Tongass National Forest be- 

 cause we believe that this forest is indeed important to all Ameri- 

 cans and that what happens here will set an important precedent 

 for the management of all national forests. 



My testimony today will basically support the need for reform of 

 ANILCA to provide for more rational management of the Tongass 

 National Forest; but we also recognize the need to treat the people 

 and communities of southeast Alaska fairly. 



My remarks will be focusing on S. 346 which we believe provides 

 the basic reforms necessary to achieve rational management, al- 

 though we do have some concerns with this bill. We cannot support 

 S. 237 which repeals only the $40 million annual appropriation for 

 timber management because this bill does maintain a prescriptive 

 timber supply goal of 4.5 billion board feet per decade and thus re- 

 stricts the flexibility of the current forest planning process. 



The American Forestry Association believes the timber manage- 

 ment program on the Tongass should be developed on the basis of 

 the resource capacity of the forest as outlined in the modern forest 

 plan, and that should be in compliance to the National Forest Man- 

 agement Act. 



Annual timber sale volumes and road construction programs 

 should be shaped in the short term by signals from the market- 

 place. The Tongass timber program should not be directed by the 

 Congressional mandates within ANILCA any more than any na- 

 tional forest should be in the entire national forest system. 



This is why we support S. 346, which does repeal the 4.5 billion 

 board foot target. As I mentioned, however, we have a couple of 

 concerns. One deals with fairness to the people and community of 

 southeast Alaska. Although Senator Wirth's bill repeals the $40 

 million annual appropriation for timber management, we believe 

 that an annual allocation of economic development funds may in 



