396 



in the Forest Service Tongass Land Management Plan (TLMP) . In 

 addition, the bill also requests a moratorium on harvesting of 23 

 designated areas of high-volume old growth until the 1990 's TLMP 

 is implemented. 



Senator Frank Murkowski has introduced S. 237, which amends only 

 provision 705(a) of ANILCA, eliminating the mandated timber 

 supply goal of 4.5 billion board feet per decade. However, the 

 supply goal still would be decided upon annually by the Secretary 

 of Agriculture instead of by the forest planning process and 

 Congress. This process guides all other National Forests in the 

 United States and provides for public input, whereas the 

 Secretary's decision will not necessarily do so. 



Recommendations by The Wildlife Society 



The Wildlife Society wishes to make Congress aware of the 

 consequences to wildlife when decisions are made regarding the 

 amount and location of logging activities scheduled for the 

 Tongass. One-third of high-volume old growth on the Tongass is 

 scheduled for harvesting in the next 100 years. Old-growth rain 

 forests of coastal Alaska require careful and far-sighted 

 research, planning and management to ensure that they are 

 perpetuated for their many values. Furthermore, research programs 

 should be increased and sustained at levels required to produce 

 the needed understanding of wildlife/old-growth forest 

 relationships in a timely manner. 



The Society urges support for S. 346. This bill would protect 

 almost 1.7 million acres of irreplacable old-growth forests in 

 the next decade. The Society agrees with the proposed harvesting 

 moratorium of 23 areas that have high value to wildlife. S. 346 

 would strike a critical balance among multiple uses of the 

 Tongass. 



The Society cannot support S. 237 because timber and other 

 multiple uses, including wildlife, must be integral parts of the 

 forest planning process. This bill fails to recognize that old 

 growth is essentially a nonrenewable resource and that balanced 

 multiple use management is not adequately being practiced on the 

 Tongass. 



In summary, current harvesting practices on the Tongass will 

 significantly decrease the capability of the habitat to support 

 certain wildlife populations. The mandated harvesting regime 

 under ANILCA, if not amended, constitutes unacceptable 

 restrictions on true multiple-use management of our largest 

 National Forest. The Wildlife Society supports S. 346 as a 

 necessary step toward more responsible resource management on the 

 Tongass. 



