420 



This was confirmed in July 1968 when, in a personal conversation, 

 then-Supervisor Howard Johnson said to me that the Forest Service goal was an 

 allowable cut of 800 million board feet per year, and that they were very 

 nearly "there." This was even without the presence of the extremely 

 controversial Admiralty Island logging and milling operation proposed and 

 being actively promoted by the Agency at that time. 



If the Forest Service had succeeded in its efforts to allocate the forest 

 resource by letting three long-term contracts instead of the present two, 

 there would be almost nothing of wildlife or recreation value to talk about 

 today, so great were the overestimates of good timber actually out there. Now, 

 with the sad vision of history and hindsight, we have come to realize that 

 even two such contracts are two too many; that there was far more of wildlife 

 value destroyed and far less really valuable timber available than was ever 

 foreseen in those wishful -thinking days. 



And it is for this reason that the National Audubon Society has long believed 

 that environmentally-responsible management of the Tongass's unparalleled 

 natural resources is impossible as long as these contracts remain in place. 



It is time to admit that the contracts, though offered with all good 

 intentions, were a mistake. At the same time they drain the U.S. treasury, 

 they continue to destroy one of the most beautiful and spectacular 

 environments anywhere on earth. 



For an unprecedented 50 years, they have given the two pulp mills, Ketchikan 

 Pulp Compnay and the Japanese -owned Alaska Pulp Corporation, control over 

 two-thirds of the commercial forest land that exists on the Tongass. 



Many of the finest stands of old-growth temperate rain forest remaining in 

 North America are found within these areas. Extensive stands of large, 

 old-growth forest are absolutely essential to wildlife and fish, and to the 

 non-timber industries -- commercial fishing, recreation, and tourism -- that 

 rely on these natural resources. But under the terms of the contracts, nearly 

 all of this rare forest is dedicated to logging, regardless of these other 

 values. 



The contracts directly hinder the Forest Service's ability to manage the 

 Tongass as it should be managed: for multiple use. While Audubon last year 

 supported the intentions behind the contract renegotiation required by H.R. 

 1516, experience has shown that past efforts to modify them have largely 

 failed. The contracts predate almost all of the national guidelines which 

 direct modem Forest Service management, including most notably, the National 

 Forest Management Act of 1976. Though Congress has ordered the Forest Service 

 to comply with the provisions of this legislation in the Tongass, the Forest 

 Service claims it cannot because of the 50-year contracts. Given its rich 

 wildlife habitat and scenic beauty, the Tongass should be the first to be in 

 compliance with modern environmental laws; certainly not the last, as it now 

 is. 



Even more absurdly, the contracts require the Forest Service and the U.S. 

 government to spend millions of dollars to help the two mills lay waste to an 

 unparalleled ecosystem. In addition to building hundreds of miles of logging 

 roads for the mills, the Forest Service is obligated to give them timber at 

 prices far below Forest Service costs and even further below market values. 

 Besides undervaluing rare old-growth trees, the below cost sales necessitated 

 by the contracts ensure that other forest values are not taken into account. 



