239 



I have no further questions. 



Mr. Edwards. One way of putting it, Senator, if the 1.8 miUion 

 acres was added to the wilderness we already have, we would still 

 be left with a timber yield of 400 million board feet per year avail- 

 able to industry. 



Senator Murkowski. I would like you to define that because that 

 means nothing to me, unfortunately. I am taking it from the cur- 

 rent 1.7 million which is being cut on a perpetual yield basis, the 

 one-third set aside for wilderness and one-third set aside for fish 

 and game habitat pending TLMP. 



Mr. Edwards. We will provide it for the record later on. 



Senator Murkowski. I would excuse the witnesses and ask the 

 next panel to come forward, please. 



We are rapidly concluding, I hope, some portion of the morning 

 which has moved into the afternoon. I guess I would first apologize 

 to Mr. Loescher, my good friend, for confusing SEACC with Sea- 

 laska, and I stand corrected before I get corrected. 



I would introduce Mr. Loescher, Senior Vice President for Re- 

 source Management, Sealaska Corporation from Juneau who has 

 traveled down here. 



Also on the panel we have Mr. William A. Thomas, Jr., Chair- 

 man, Klukwan Forest Products, Incorporated, Juneau, Alaska. 



I would ask that you proceed as you see fit, gentlemen. We look 

 forward to your testimony and wish you a good day. 



Mr. Loescher, you are up on the panel. 



STATEMENT OF ROBERT W. LOESCHER, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, 

 RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, SEALASKA CORP., ACCOMPANIED BY 

 CHRIS MCNEIL, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUN 

 SEL, SEALASKA CORPORATION 



Mr. Loescher. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Bob 

 Loescher, and I am the Senior Vice President for Resource Man- 

 agement for Sealaska Corporation. I am accompanied today by 

 Chris McNeil, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Sea- 

 laska. 



On behalf of Sealaska I would like to express our appreciation to 

 the Senate Energy Committee for inviting us to testify today. I will 

 make my remarks as brief as possible. We have submitted for the 

 record formal testimony and a supporting statement containing 

 some specific legislative proposals. 



Sealaska is an Alaska Native regional corporation with almost 

 16,000 shareholders residing primarily in southeast Alaska. It is ap- 

 propriate that Sealaska Corporation participate in the Tongass 

 debate. Our Congressionally established regional boundaries en- 

 compass the entire Tongass National Forest. 



Virtually every community in the Tongass counts among its resi- 

 dents descendants of the first human inhabitants of the Tongass, 

 the native people of southeast Alaska, our shareholders. Sealaska 

 shareholders are also shareholders of the 12 urban and village cor- 

 porations in southeast which are vital economic and community 

 forces in the Tongass forest. 



There is good reason for Congress to focus its attention on the 

 Tongass. The current management regime is a relic of a bygone 



