398 



March 1, 1989 



Honorable Dale Bumpers, Chairman 

 Senate Subcommittee on Public 

 Lands, National Parks and Forests 

 U.S. Senate, Washington, B.C. 20510 



Dear Senator Bumpers, 



Here is some material concerning pending legislation on the Tongass 

 National forest that I feel compelled to send you after reading the 

 coverage of your Subcommittee hearings on February 28th in today's 

 issue of the Ketchikan Daily News. I understand that you are taking 

 public input for the next two weeks and also that you plan to conduct 

 hearings in Alaska some time in April. Therefore, I wish to make 

 this contribution to the record. 



I support Senator Wirth's introduced legislation (S. 346) that would 

 allow the Forest Service to plan and manage the Tongass National 

 Forest based on current biological, sociological, and economic 

 conditions without the encumbrances caused by an annual harvest set 

 by law and an appropriation not subject to the annual budget 

 process. The mandates contained in the Alaska National Interest 

 Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) regarding the 4.5 billion board feet 

 of timber per decade and the $40,000,000 automatic funding level 

 along with the long term contracts could stand in the way of 

 objective forest planning currently underway. The 23 environmentally 

 sensitive areas named in S. 346 should remain on hold until the 

 completion of the revision of the Tongass Land Management Plan 

 currently under way. 



The timber harvest level for the Tongass should be based on land 

 capability and public need. Harvest levels that are biologically 

 sound can only be developed by an objective planning process that is 

 unencumbered by politics. The 4.5 billion board feet per decade, 

 initially developed by a plan (now 10-yrs. old) and set in concrete 

 through a political compromise, may not be attainable today. In the 

 past ten years there have been many changes in the Tongass. Because 

 of low timber values, much of the harvest has taken place in high 

 volume stands. Many acres, once within the Tongass National Forest, 

 have be selected and transferred to the State of Alaska or the Native 

 Corporations. Native Corporations have clearcut extensive amounts of 

 these lands and plan to harvest more. There are now 5.4 million 

 acres of Wilderness where road building and logging can not take 

 place. Knowledge has been gained as to what constitutes key wildlife 

 and fish habitat and how much is necessary to sustain viable 

 populations. There are new businesses that depend on the wildness of 

 the Tongass to maintain viability. New laws, regulations, and 

 policies that effect logging practices and management of the National 

 Forests have been developed. This list, by no way inclusive, is an 

 indication that the management situation on the Tongass has changed 

 considerably since ANILCA and that the allowable harvest level may 

 also be different than what is now mandated. 



