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9. Senator Murkowski displayed a map showing what he called Tongass National 

 Forest lands off-limits to logging in "perpetuity". He claimed that only 1.75 

 million acres can ever be managed for timber harvests. 



RESPONSE: Mr. Murkowski was including LIID lis, LUD 1 release areas, and 

 non-wilderness monument lands, in the lands that are alledgedly "locked up" 

 in perpetuity. The 1.75 million acres that the Forest Service plans for 

 cutting over the next 100 years will be spread out over seven million acres of 

 lands that are currently allocated for timber management and road systems. 

 That's 42 percent of the Tongass, not "just ten percent". There will be a 

 sprawling network of roads (over 3000 miles of new roads) and a vast patchwork 

 of clearcuts throughout the forest. Senator Murkowski didn't mention the 

 317,000 acres of clearcuts that existed prior to ANILCA. In addition to this 

 7.3 million acres, the 2.9 million acres of LUD II and LUD I release lands are 

 only temporarily protected by the first Tongass Land Management Plan (TLMP). 

 They will be re-allocated as part of the TLMP Revision. Add to this the 

 non-wilderness monument lands that are open for mining, and logging to support 

 the mining facilities, and other un-allocated areas of the Tongass, and you 

 end up with over 11.3 million acres that are currently available in the future 

 for timber management programs. 11.3 million acres equals 68 percent of the 

 Tongass. 



10. Senator Murkowski stated that Senator Wirth's bill expressly stops the 

 current forest planning effort in its tracks and is a bad precedent for 

 national forest planning. 



RESPONSE: The really bad precedent is retaining the 4.5 in law -- language 

 which will hand-cuff forest planning efforts in future years. We believe that 

 reform legislation will provide guidance to the agency to continue the TLMP 

 Revision planning effort. The agency will not be forced to start over as 

 Senator Murkowski claimed. All the data base and inventory information work 

 which has been done thus far will be utilized in order to make a better plan. 



11. Senator Murkowski stated that one-half of the Tongass commercial forest 

 is good only for pulp. 



RESPONSE: The facts show that pulp grade timber can be utilized for other 

 products. Regional Forester Mike Barton (during the 1987 Senate Hearings) 



stated that "It would be possible to start a new type of industry " which 



included "Wafer board or cement board or that sort of thing", with the chips 

 made from the lower grade timber. Add these to the list: plywood, veneer, and 

 dimensional lumber for local building needs. 



12. Senator Murkowski asked us to provide the location of areas where we have 

 personally found evidence of alder-choked roads that have made vehicle travel 

 impossible. 



RESPONSE: Some examples include Sitkoh Bay, Sitkoh Lake, Kook Lake/Basket 

 Bay, Rodman Bay, Columbia Cove, Fish Bay, Hanus Bay, and North Catherine 

 Island in the northern part of the Tongass. On Prince of Wales Island 

 specific examples include the Harris River, Staney Creek, Maybeso Creek, Eagle 



