436 



February 27, 1989 



Senator J. Bennett Johnston 

 Chairman, Senate Energy Committee 

 U.S. Senate 

 Washington, D.C. 20510 



Dear Senator Johnston, 



I would like to submit the following written testimony concerning 

 Senate Bill 346, the Tongass Timber Reform Act, and would ask 

 that it be made part of the record of the hearings being held on 

 the bill. I am a professional biologist (Ph.D. in Zoology); I 

 lived in Southeast Alaska for three years while employed as a 

 wildlife biologist for the U.S. Forest Service. 



As a biologist, I find the provisions of Sec 705(a) of ANILCA to 

 be completely incompatible with the national goal of multiple-use 

 forest management and timber production. Moreover, I feel that 

 the current management of the Tongass Forest is as economically 

 wasteful as it is ecologically disastrous. It is simply 

 inconceivable to me that at a time of a severe budget deficit, 

 this nation is subsidizing below-cost timber sales on the Tongass 

 at a cost of at least $40 million per year. Even if this subsidy 

 met the employment goals for which it was intended, I would find 

 this outlandishly wasteful. Given that it may harm the economy 

 of Southeast Alaska, that it definitely harms the national 

 economy, and that it seriously degrades the environment, I feel 

 that the Committee should support and strengthen S. 346. 



In an attempt to build and secure stable employment in the timber 

 industry in Southeast Alaska, the Forest Service and Congress 

 have provided incentives and subsidies to operators in the 

 Tongass National Forest that are unique in the history of 

 National Forest management. First, in the 1950 's, the Forest 

 Service entered into four (two remaining) 50-year contracts with 

 timber companies. These contracts now provide the Alaska Pulp 

 Company and Louisiana Pacific Ketchikan sole access to 2/3 of the 

 timber in the Tongass and guarantee that "economic timber" will 

 be provided. Second, in 1980, Sec 705(a) of ANILCA established a 

 goal of the production of 4.5 billion board feet of timber from 

 Southeast per decade (450 million board feet (mbf) per year) and 

 provided a fund of $40 million, not subject to annual 

 appropriations, to make that timber available. These actions: 



1) Prevent the Forest Service from meeting the multiple-use 



requirements of the National Forest Management Act. 



2) Prevent the establishment of modern sustainable forest 



practices in the Tongass. 



3) Result in a staggering waste of tax revenues that is 



counterproductive In terms of the goals of secure. 



