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Although all old growth is no doubt important to some 

 resident wildlife species at certain times of the year, the major 

 concern among wildlife biologists is the loss of the high-volume 

 component of the forest. High-volume old growth is rare on the 

 Tongass. If we define it as those stands having more than 30 

 thousand board feet per acre, it comprises only 4 percent of the 

 total land area, of which approximately 30% is contained in 

 wilderness areas, as indicated in the table attached to the end 

 of this statement. Maintaining an adequate and representative 

 supply and distribution of high-volume old growth is important 

 from the standpoint of maintaining natural forest diversity, as 

 well as maintaining wildlife populations strongly dependent on 

 this habitat type. 



Logging over the last 50 years in Southeast Alaska has reduced 

 significantly the amount of high-volume old-growth habitat. 

 Available data indicate that approximately half of the highest- 

 volume old growth (stands over 50 thousand board feet per acre) 

 were logged in the 40 years preceding enactment of the Alaska 

 National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) . The projected 

 harvest schedule calls for 49 percent of the remaining acres in 

 this highest volume class to be logged in the next four decades. 

 Furthermore, the 1979 Tongass Land Management Plan (TLMP) placed 

 a disproportionate share of high-volume old-growth stands in land 

 designations open to logging (LUDS III and IV) . 



When these forests are logged, the ecology of the site changes 

 radically. By 20 to 25 years after logging, young conifers shade 

 out most other plants. For another century or more, the forest 

 floor remains virtually devoid of understory vegetation. Such 

 stands have little or no value to deer and other wildlife. 

 Scientists estimate that it will take 2 to 3 centuries before 

 forests logged today regain old growth characteristics. Old- 

 growth forests basically are a nonrenewable resource. The Society 

 of American Foresters' 1984 Report on Old-growth states that 

 "with present knowledge, it is not possible to create old-growth 

 stands or markedly hasten the process by which nature creates 

 them. Old growth is a complex ecosystem and th3 lack of 

 information makes the risk of failure high. At least until 

 substantial research can be completed, the best way to manage for 

 old-growth is to conserve an adequate supply of present stands 

 and leave them alone." 



It will be difficult to maintain current levels of wildlife in 

 the face of scheduled logging on the Tongass. Because the impacts 

 of logging are cumulative and long-term, the full magnitude of 

 the declines in wildlife will not be realized for several or more 

 decades. 



Because they have been intensively studied, Sitka black-tailed 

 deer provide an excellent example of the effects that harvesting 

 old-growth forests may have on wildlife. Sitka black-tailed deer 



