56 



Senator Wirth. Mr. Sebastian. 



STATEMENT OF JOSEPH SEBASTIAN, REPRESENTING THE POINT 

 BAKER COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION 



Mr. Sebastian. My name is Joseph Sebastian and I am here in 

 behalf of The Point Baker Community Association. We still live the 

 traditional Alaskan way of life, living close to the land and earning 

 our livelihood from the ocean as commercial fishermen. Our expe- 

 rience with the United States Forest Service has led us to have 

 little or no faith in their ability to chart a new course for the Ton- 

 gass; neither do we have one iota of confidence in the phony U.S. 

 Forest Service team provision. The U.S. Forest Service is not 

 known locally and as double-talkers good only for timber roads and 

 timber extraction. 



Likewise as 237 is not a real solution to the Tongass problems 

 either and we wholeheartedly support S. 346. 



We also request permanent protection for the areas listed in S. 

 346. These priceless areas of course are full of fish and wildlife that 

 we depend on and once cut down cannot be re-created by man at 

 any price. The far-flung nature of these 23 areas gives every com- 

 munity in southeast Alaska a piece of local wildlife to protect their 

 traditional Alaskan lifestyles. 



Permanent protection is a must. The efficiency of the modern in- 

 dustrial timber industry can log off all these lands in a blink of a 

 decade and the ten years on North Prince of Wales Island LPK has 

 all but logged the best of the timber and is going for the rest. 



Due to the 50-year contracts and the phony attitude of the 

 United States Forest Service we have been helpless to stop the in- 

 dustrial carnage taking place around Point Baker. Areas like 

 Calder-Holbrook are important to preserving wildlife and assist the 

 habitat that we and others depend on to feed our families. There 

 are areas like South Kuiu Island and the Calder-Holbrook Wildlife 

 Corridor and the Outside Islands where they can fmd shelter in 

 these lonely remote areas. South Kuiu is also important in migra- 

 tory wildlife and it's a true wilderness in the fullest sense of the 

 word. If not protected the United States Forest Service will have 

 another deficit timber sale and the price of business will be a sale 

 that is centered in Japan. 



The Outside Islands are important to many Point Baker Fisher- 

 men who travel there to fish seasonally and the Point Baker Com- 

 munity Association begs Senator Wirth to permanently protect 

 these 23 national treasures with the wilderness or likewise protect- 

 ed measures. The value of these wild lands and their fish and wild- 

 life habitat far outweigh the dollar value of the wood fibre on these 

 lands. A living breathing ecosystem and balance with Alaska wild- 

 life and weather is what we need to keep alive the Alaskan dream 

 and the wilderness spirit of southeast Alaska. 



God speed to S. 346. 



Thank you. 



Senator Wirth. Thank you, Mr. Sebastian. We are sorry not to 

 be able to accept your invitation to have a hearing at Wrangell but 

 we still appreciate your coming down here today. Thank you very 

 much. 



[The prepared statement of Mr. Sebastian follows:] 



