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Southeast Alaska Conservation Council 



SEACC • PO. Box 021692 • Juneau, Alaska 99802 • 1907-586-69421 



Washing:crt. DC Oilicc 



do Satwnai Audubon Society 



801 Pennsvlvama Avenue. SB 



•*=',. Washington. DC 20003 



>...-w-^^ '202-547-0141' 



March 28. 1989 



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SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS. NATIONAL PARKS. AND FORESTS 

 SENATE ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE 



ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FROM THE HONORABLE DALE BUMPERS 



QUESTION 1. WHY SHOULDN'T CONGRESS WAIT FOR THE TONGASS LAND 

 MANAGEMENT PLAN REVISION BEFORE PASSING REFORM LEGISLATION:' 



As long as the rigid 4.5 language persists in law, there can 

 be no real change, no fair planning m the Revision, and no true 

 balanced management of the Tongass for all its multiple uses. 

 Important fish and wildlife habitat must be permanently protected 

 from logging to prevent serious long-term reductions m fish and 

 wildlife populations coupled with associated negative impacts on 

 commercial fishing, tourism and recreation, and subsistence 

 hunting and fishing. 



History clearly shows that the Forest Service considers the 

 4.5 a congressional mandate. At countless public meetings and 

 workshops Southeast Alaskans have asked that areas important to 

 them be spared from the chainsaw. only to be told by Forest 

 Service personnel that "we have no choice" because the 4.5 is 

 mandated by law or that requirements of the 50-year contracts 

 must be fulfilled. 



The story of Tenakee Springs is a good case in point. In 

 1975. John Standerwick of the Forest Service used the "commitment 

 to provide timber for ALP [now APCl" to justify why logging 

 opposed by Tenakee residents must proceed. In 1983 Chatham 

 District Supervisor Bill Gee stated, "The key issue is the Forest 

 Service mandate to make available to the timber industry 4.5 

 billion board feet of Tongass timber each decade. That figure 

 comes from the Alaska Lands Act and ties the hands of the Forest 

 -ervice." In 1986 Sitka District Ranger Craii, i_cartright 

 explained the situation again at a public meeting. "You've got to 

 remember tnat we're agents of the government being paid to 

 implement the existing situat ion . . . . the point is. I still have to 

 provide the 450 million board feet. I don't have" any option." 

 We can provide other examples upon request. 



Frankly, only because of intense pressure from Congress, has 

 the Forest Service temporari ly changed its tune by claiming that 



lUNEAU CRO'JP SIERRA CLUB -LYNN CANAL CONSERV.\nO.S Hunts • SITKA CONSERVAnON SOCIETl' 



-\L.\SkH SOClEn' OF .\.MERIC ' S FOREST DUTLLERS Point Biker • FRIENDS OF BER.NERS BAy luneju • PELICA.S FORESTRY COUNCIL 



'.ARRr-\-c "0NSERV.\T10.N<.^ ^iTlOS Pcwnourg • FRIENDS OF CL.\CTER BAY Gusuvus • TONGASS CONSERV.\T!ON SOCIEH' kcichikjn 



F.\LSE iSL.\.SDKOOK LAKE COUNCIL Tcnjkec Springs • VVR,\NGEUL RESOURCE COUNQL • lAKU CONSERVATION SOCIETI ;unciu 



