451 



Southeast Regional Fish a Game Council 



e/o ADFAC. DIVISION OF tOAMDS. P.O. iOX J-20N. JUNEAU, ALASKA fttn PHONE: (WD 465-4110 



February 27, 1989 



ADVISORY COMMTTTEES 



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Edna Bay 

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U.S. Senator Ted Stevens 



U.S. Senator Murkowskt 



U.S. Representative Don Young 



Alaska Congressional Delegation 



Washington, D.C. 



Dear Senator Stevens , 

 Representative Young: 



Senator Murkowsici , 



and 



The Southeast Regional Fish and Game Council would 

 again like to express our concern with regard to 

 management of the Tongass National Forest . Since our 

 inception, as provided in Section 805 of the Alaska 

 National Interest Lctnds Conservation Act of 1980 

 (ANILCA), the representatives of the 21 Southeast 

 Alaska communities that comprise our council have 

 sought meaningful reforms in Tongass management. 

 ANILCA has charged the Regional Council with helping 

 to assure that adequate fish and game resources remain 

 available for subsistence and other uses in our area. 

 A key element in assuring the vieibility of these fish 

 and game resources is the maintenance of adequate 

 quantity and quality of hcLbitat. It is our firm 

 belief that the current overemphasis on clearcut 

 logging and related activities on the Tongass is 

 seriously jeopardizing the long term viability of some 

 of our fish and game resources in many areas. 



In expressing our concerns and seeking changes, we 

 have repeatedly met both individually and collectively 

 with U.S. Forest Service (USFS) personnel, and 

 participated in many planning functions. The current 

 revision of the Tongass Land Management Plan is one 

 that we are participating in. What our experiences in 

 these discussions and planning processes have 

 demonstrated to us, however, is that there are built- 

 in constraints that hinder the establishment and 

 execution of a true multiple use management regime. 

 The 4.S billion board foot harvest goal, some 

 provisions of the 50 year contracts with the two pulp 

 mills, and similar "hurdles" are encountered time 

 after time in our efforts to protect essential habitat 

 for our fish and game. Without the removal or 

 substantive change in some of these factors that are 

 currently driving Tongass management, this situation 

 will not change. 



Thus, we ask that Congress adopt a package of measures 

 that will provide a more level playing field for the 



